[Atlanta, GA| — With a mission of ownership and opportunity for all, Self-Help Credit Union (www.self-help.org) is coming to Atlanta later this year. The new branch will be located at 921 Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard, SW in the West End and is expected to open this fall.

“Self-Help is honored to soon be part of Atlanta’s historic West End, one of the most culturally diverse neighborhoods in the city,” states Mandy Eidson, director of business development and community engagement. “As we work hard to respond to the local need for basic, affordable financial services, we look forward to working with local nonprofits, universities, and other stakeholders in the community.”

Recently ranked as one of the top ten credit unions in the nation by NerdWallet, Self-Help is one of the fastest growing community development financial institutions in the country. While its services benefit everyone, Self-Help’s presence in Atlanta brings broader access to fair, affordable financing options to communities that have long faced historic barriers to financial inclusion, especially women, rural families, immigrants, and communities of color. In addition to homeownership, small business growth, affordable housing and community development will be key areas of focus. Services for members will include savings, checking, term certificates, money market accounts, IRAs, loans, mortgages, online and mobile services, debit and credit cards, and small business/nonprofit accounts.

“Our mission is not only to strengthen homeownership and financially empower our members but also to invest in the communities where they work and live,” explains Yvette Humphries, Self-Help Credit Union new manager for the Atlanta region. “The branch marks a new chapter in Self-Help’s transformative community work and expands our legacy of local impact to the state of Georgia.”

Humphries comes to Self-Help with an extensive background in financial services, corporate philanthropy and expertise in civic and non-profit community and economic development programs. She served as a business and community development officer for PNC Bank for over nine years.

This new branch is Self-Help’s first in Georgia, but the nonprofit is not new to the state. Founded in 1980, the Center for Community Self-Help was born out of a desire to empower local communities to help themselves. Its initial efforts focused on helping rural workers in North Carolina form worker-owned cooperatives and gain ownership of local mills that were being shut down. Over time, the organization expanded its mission through the cooperative credit union model, in which all members own and share in its work.

Today, Self-Help comprises a family of nonprofits totaling $5 billion in assets. Leading its retail presence are two credit unions spanning across 78 branches in eight states: Self-Help Credit Union, active in the Southeastern U.S. from Virginia to Atlanta; and Self-Help Federal Credit Union, with branches in California, Illinois, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The organization also includes the Center for Responsible Lending, a research and advocacy nonprofit, and the nonprofit Self-Help Ventures Fund, which has provided over $7.6 million in loans for a wide range of projects in the Atlanta region.  Collectively, some of Self-Help’s other accomplishments to date include:

· Launching a secondary market mortgage program in 1998 that has supported over 66,300 low and moderate-income households nationwide.

· Spearheading efforts to pass the nation’s first Anti-Predatory Mortgage Lending Law in North Carolina in 1999, inspiring similar legislation in other states, including Georgia.

· Helping to draft policy recommendations that were later incorporated into the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, which helped to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

· Providing over $11 billion in financing to date, impacting over 72,600 homeowners and 6,800 small businesses, nonprofits, and commercial borrowers.

Since its beginning, Self-Help has provided financing to over 198,000 families, individuals, and businesses and serves over 185,000 members through its credit union network, which primarily focuses on low-wealth and disadvantaged communities of color.

More information about Self-Help can be found at self-help.org.

Jenny Shields, Director of Media Relations, Self-Help Credit Union

Direct Line: 919.794.6798 | Cell: 919.584.4379 | Email: Jenny.Shields@self-help.org