CDCUs: From Wall Street to Tobacco Road

DURHAM, N.C. – The focus for community development credit unions in this year’s round of CDFI funding shifted from Wall Street to Tobacco Road, where three credit unions will share $2.3 million in federal grants. In past years, the focus was on the National Federation of CDCUs, based on Wall Street, which helped create the CDFI program. The three North Carolina credit unions, members of the North Carolina Minority Support Center, all have won CDFI grants in the past, but stand out this year because their share is almost 9% of the total awarded under the Treasury Department program. Among this year’s recipients were: Self-Help CU, which is part of a conglomerate of community development organizations, which won $487,000, Latino Community CU, $860,000, and Generation Community CU, $955,000. The three are headquartered here. The National Federation, which has worked closely with all credit unions, also won another $600,000 in CDFI funding. Both the Federation and Self-Help are among the biggest recipients in CDFI funding, with each winning more than $10 million in grants through the 10-years of the program.