SELF-HELP FEDERAL CREDIT UNION AND FONDY FOOD CENTER PARTNER TO EXPAND ACCESS TO HEALTHY FOODS IN MILWAUKEE
[Milwaukee,WI] On November 1, Fondy Food Center will relocate its offices and the Milwaukee Winter Farmers Market to the historic former Legacy Bank building, which is located at 2102 W. Fond du Lac Avenue on the same block as the Fondy Farmers Market. Along with operating the 105-year-old Fondy Farmers Market, and the Milwaukee Winter Farmers Market, the Fondy Food Center also runs the Fondy Farm at the Mequon Nature Preserve.
Legacy Bank in Milwaukee was founded to help increase financial stability and build wealth in the black community. Today, this historic landmark is owned by Self-Help Federal Credit Union, (www.self-helpfcu.org), a nonprofit organization with a similar mission and one of the fastest-growing community development-designated financial institutions in the country.
Self-Help moved from the historical building in December 2020, transferring its northside Milwaukee branch operations to 5630 W. Fond du Lac Avenue. Since then, our hope has been to repurpose the building with the community in mind. Now Self-Help has partnered with Fondy Food Center to do just that.
“We are excited about the partnership with Fondy and the value the organization brings to the community," states Pamela L. Bell, Milwaukee City Executive & Vice President for Self Help Federal Credit Union. “As Self-Help looked to repurpose this beautiful historic building, community was at the forefront of our decision-making process. Fondy works to support small farmers and increase and improve access to healthy, local food and economic opportunity across greater Milwaukee so this was the perfect fit.”
Venice R. Williams, who became Interim Executive Director at the Fondy Food Center earlier this year, is known for her transformative leadership at Alice's Garden Urban Farm and has been at the helm of this expansion and transition for Fondy. She shares, "This move allows us to be more comprehensively and directly rooted in the communities surrounding the Fondy Market. In addition to the Saturday winter market, we will be creating an indoor Wednesday Fondy Market, hold special event markets, design and implement a culturally-specific community culinary and nutrition education program, and also have space for our trainings and meetings."
CaBeatrice Hart, Fondy Farmers Market Manager, is also looking ahead. "In addition to other things, the new Fondy Food Center Campus will be a unique opportunity to operate our seasonal outdoor market alongside a year-round marketplace, expanding both, economic development opportunities, and healthy food options for the community."
Built in 1928 2102 W. Fond du Lac Avenue is the original site of Badger State Bank. Celebrated for being the home of Legacy Bank, founded in 1999, it was the first bank in the country owned by Black women. Self-Help Federal Credit Union acquired the site in May of 2017, and it briefly housed one of its Seaway branches.
The Fondy Farm is a patchwork of 25 small family farms, offering affordable, long-term leases on quality land, with some of the amenities and resources needed for these agricultural businesses to succeed.
With a mission of creating and protecting ownership and opportunity for all, Self-Help Federal Credit Union is working to help make healthy foods available in all communities, including by providing loans to people who are transforming the food system and helping businesses and nonprofits that work to improve the way food is produced, distributed and sold. Self-Help Federal was chartered to build a network of branches that serve working families and underserved communities. With over $2.1 billion in assets and serving more than 103,000 members in 38 branches - 22 in California, nine in Illinois, five in Washington, and two in Wisconsin, Self-Help is one of the fastest-growing community development-designated financial institutions in the country.
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About Self-Help Federal Credit Union
Self-Help Federal Credit Union was chartered in 2008 to build a network of branches that partner with working families and communities that havehistorically faced systemic barriers to financial inclusion. With over $2.1 billion in assets and serving more than 103,000 members in 38 branches - 22 in California, nine in Illinois, five in Washington, and two in Wisconsin, Self-Help Federal is one of the fastest-growing community development-designated financial institutions in the country. It is part of the Self-Help family of nonprofit organizations whose collective mission is to create and protect ownership and economic opportunity for all. For more than 42 years, the national Center for Community Self-Help and its affiliates have provided over $10.5 billion in financing to help more than 150,000 borrowers buy homes, start businesses, and strengthen community resources. For more information, go to www.self-helpfcu.org and www.self-help.org.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: For More Information, Contact:
Pamela Bell, Self-Help Federal Credit Union Milwaukee City Executive | Vice President pamelab@self-help.org, (414) 840-9923 self-helpfcu.org
Venice R. Williams, Fondy Food Center Interim Executive Director venicewb@gmail.com, (414) 687-0122 fondymke.org
Jenny Shields, Director of Media Relations, Center for Community Self-Help DIRECT LINE: 919.794.6798 Email: Jenny.Shields@self-help.org