WASHINGTON – Credit unions have received more than $3 million in grants from the latest round of the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, but concerns are being expressed at how little of the total funds went to credit unions.
As the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions noted, of the 62 CDFIs receiving awards, just two awards totaling $850,000 went to CDCUs, less than 2% of total FA awards this round. The CDCU awards were $350,000 to Neighborhood Trust FCU and $500,000 to Union Settlement FCU, both in New York.
The Fund also made awards of $750,000 to the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (Federation) and $1 million to the Self-Help Venture Fund (Durham, N.C.), an affiliate of Self-Help CU. Combined, these four awards account for less than 4% of the total $52.7 million that was awarded.
"We are pleased to have received an award this round," said Federation President/CEO Cliff Rosenthal, before adding he is concerned over the small grants given to credit unions. "Two excellent credit unions, Union Settlement and Neighborhood Trust, received awards along with the Federation, but the extremely low representation of credit unions among awardees concerns us greatly: credit union funding in this round totaled less than 4%, an all-time low."
"We have seen significant positive changes in the Fund's awards over the past year, thanks to the efforts of the CDFI Fund's committed staff, but we remain concerned about the underrepresentation of credit unions among awardees. Credit unions are central to the CDFI industry because in addition to affordable financing, they provide low- and moderate-income communities with a full range transaction and insured deposit services, asset-building programs, financial literacy education, and other lifeline products that are so desperately needed in the current economy," he added.
Last week the CDFI Fund awarded $4.4 million to 10 CDFIs through its Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) program, which is designed to encourage the creation and strengthening of certified CDFIs that primarily serve Native American, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian communities. Of the 10 NACA awards, two went to credit unions, $470,000 to Federation-member Molokai Community FCU in Kaunakakai, Hawaii, and $225,000 to First Hawaiian Homes FCU in Hoolehua, Hawaii.
