Legacy Lives on for CDCU Figure

ITHACA, N.Y. – Even though he retired last week from the community development credit union he helped charter, Bill Myers name will live on at Alternatives FCU as an internship for young people who want to promote social and economic justice. The Bill Myers Youth Internships will help expand economic opportunities for low- and moderate-income residents, just like Myers, who helped found Alternatives 28 years ago. The CDCU figure is recognized as a pioneer in the credit union movement, having introduced programs like payday lending, free tax assistance to low-income workers, in-school savings programs, credit rebuilding initiatives, and the definition of a living wage, which area businesses have come to use as a benchmark for paying their workers. Myers will continue to live in Ithaca but will now work as a fellow at the Aspen Institute, a think tank for economic justice, and for the National CU Foundation’s REAL Solutions program, developing financial initiatives to serve low- and moderate-income people.