Self-Help Shares

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday, celebrating the great man's life and legacy, is fittingly designated as a day of service. As we prepare to celebrate in 2022, we join Dr. King's call to work for justice and find ways to serve while carrying hope. To honor this day, we lift up just a few of our staff members who take time to volunteer in their communities.

We are ending 2021 full of gratitude. To our members, our staff and our partners: thank you. You make this work possible. It's a privilege to join with you as we work together to expand economic opportunity. Hear more in a brief video message from Randy Chambers, executive vice president, and some of our credit union leaders from across the country.

Self-Help Federal Credit Union’s branch in Bakersfield, California soon will have a new neighbor. Plans are in the works to build the Dolores Huerta Peace and Justice Cultural Center on property now occupied by a Self-Help Federal branch. We will be building a new branch at this location as we prepare to welcome a wonderful asset to the community.

Last week we at Self-Help joined credit unions all over the world in celebrating International Credit Union Day – more about that below. First, we want to give you an update on a member we’ve featured in this space before: Mr. Lee Curry, a resident of the Chatham neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. On October 22, Mr. Curry celebrated his 102^nd birthday!

During the past two years of the pandemic, many small business owners have shown great determination and resilience even through tough economic times. Self-Help has had the privilege of partnering with many small businesses as they recover. Here’s a recent example in Jacksonville, Florida, contributed by Area Manager Megan Nissley.

On September 30, 2021, there was much joy in downtown Durham, NC as new residents, housing advocates and project partners celebrated the grand opening of Willard Street Apartments. Beginning with the vision of local advocates, this high-quality housing located adjacent to the City’s transit center in the heart of downtown Durham is the result of collaboration among Self-Help Ventures Fund and DHIC (co-developers) with support from many other community partners.

Every day, Self-Help staff are privileged to hear personal stories from our members. As we work together on loans and other financial services, we get to know each other. In Milwaukee, our staff at Seaway Bank, a division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union, have had the pleasure of meeting Andre Jones, a man who has had great determination to build a better life. Andre has generously shared his story with us.

Earlier this year Self-Help made a commitment to multiply the benefits of staff vaccines in the communities that we serve. For every Self-Help staffer who receives a vaccine, Self-Help is donating $100 to a local nonprofit working to support those impacted by COVID-19 or whose mission is fighting health disparities.

In 2020, we served more than 167,000 credit union members in 69 locations across seven states. Our top priority was the safety and well-being of our members and staff. Working with partners, we also continued our day-to-day work of boosting homeownership, expanding access to capital, advocating for fair lending policies, and investing in communities that have been underserved in mainstream markets. See highlights and results in our 2020 annual report.