Self-Help
History/Overview
Self-Help Credit Union (SHCU) is a federally insured, state-chartered credit union located in Durham, North Carolina. Since its founding in 1984, SHCU’s mission has been to help build assets, creating opportunities for families and their communities. As a federally recognized community development financial institution, SHCU uses interest-bearing deposits, such as Certificates of Deposit (CDs), to make home and commercial loans to help those that cannot obtain financing from conventional lenders. SHCU programs have assisted minorities, women, rural residents, and low-wealth families to buy homes, to build businesses, and to strengthen communities.
For loans closed in 2006, 29% of SHCU’s borrowers were women and 80% of borrowers were people of color. Seventy-four percent of borrowers had a household income at or below 80% of the area median income.
Programs
SHCU’s deposit products include savings, money market, CD, and IRA accounts. ATM cards connected to money market accounts provide nationwide ATM access, and can be used without fee at select ATM machines in NC. SHCU recently merged with three full-service retail credit unions in Wilson, Laurinburg, and Wilmington NC.
SHCU has multiple loan programs that include real estate development, secondary market mortgage financing, home mortgage lending, small business lending and community facilities lending.
Through its secondary market program, Self-Help (The umbrella organization that includes SHCU, Center for Responsible Lending, Self-Help Ventures Fund, and the recently merged credit unions) works to increase the flow of money available for fair mortgages in the sub-prime mortgage market by partnering with Fannie Mae, the Ford Foundation, and mainstream lenders.
Policy & Advocacy Work
Self-Help uses its experience in lending and community development to inform its positions on public policy issues, and is a strong advocate in the national community development and credit union fields. Self-Help continues to fight predatory lending practices that strip wealth from low-income families. The affiliated Center for Responsible Lending uses Self-Help’s lending experience to recommend practical solutions to predatory lending abuses in legislative and regulatory arenas.
Self-Help has lead the effort to expose the dangers of sub prime “exploding” adjustable rate mortgages to Congress and regulators and authored widely cited reports on sub-prime mortgage foreclosures, overdraft loans, and payday lending.
Impact
Since its founding, Self-Help has financed $5 billion in loans to 55,000 homeowners, small business owners, and nonprofits in North Carolina and around the country. In 2006, Self-Help provided $500 million in financing to 4,262 individuals and organizations nationwide. Self-Help helped 4,000 families finance the purchase of their homes. Self-Help’s small business and nonprofit borrowers created or maintained more than 2,430 jobs and 2,685 childcare and public charter school spaces in North Carolina and the U.S.
Investing with SHCU
Trillium Asset Management Corporation (“Trillium”) purchased its first CD, on our client’s behalf, with SHCU in 1991. Over forty Trillium clients are currently invested in SHCU CDs. Many of our clients invest in specialized CDs to support targeted lending in childcare services and environmentally responsible organizations and projects. Child care and environmental CDs pay the same, market competitive, interest rates as SHCU’s standard CDs.
On behalf of our clients, Trillium will purchase SHCU CDs of at least $5,000 for a term of not less than two years. There is a $25.00 fee to join SHCU.