PASADENA, Calif. - LA Financial FCU has agreed to a three-year, co-branded partnership with community service organization Operation HOPE that aims to expand membership opportunities in an underserved area of Los Angeles.
Operation HOPE is a non-profit that provides economic tools and services and promotes financial literacy in underserved communities.
"Operation HOPE has a network of service centers throughout the world, and we will be partnering with them in their South Los Angeles location to have a credit union branch next to an Operation HOPE branch," said Renee Mackanin, VP-marketing for LA Financial "We started working with the organization this summer. We have been using Operation HOPE's module to reach out to the groups it serves."
The two parties said Operation HOPE will offer one-on-one home ownership, credit and money management counseling to LA Financial members and unbanked residents of the surrounding community. The agreement also will promote HOPE's Banking on Our Future financial literacy program, encouraging LA Financial employees to volunteer as HOPE Corps members to teach local students the ABCs of being money smart. LA Financial said it will provide competitive mortgage and consumer loan programs to the community and encourage residents to become members.
"The partnership will include financial literacy programs, and we are very excited about it," Mackanin said. "It is a great opportunity for us and for Operation HOPE, which also partners with a couple other credit unions. We currently have about 1,800 members in the area, and Operation HOPE has 10,000 customers that represent a potential opportunity for us. We want to expand our membership, and we want to serve this underserved community with checking accounts and mortgages.
"It is a great partnership in that Operation HOPE educates people, and we provide the services," she added.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/
