Credit union gets federal OK, needs $300k

By Troy Licastro and Tony Reyes
Bengal News West Reporters
          The Good Neighbors Federal Credit Union, a proposed credit union on the West Side that is two years into development, received primary federal approval to become a credit union in September, but must still raise $300,000.

          The organizers have started a crowd-funding campaign to raise the money, which will help support a grant application, said  Clinton Parker, a member of VISTA AmeriCorps, one of the organizers.
           The grant application would be to become a CDFI, or a community development financial institution, which is  a federal charter for any organization that’s helping develop a community-based access to capital. If and when the proposed credit union does become a certified CDFI, it can then apply for grants, and those grants will go towards hiring a full-time fundraiser to get the rest of the money. 

          To help in the process of raising money the credit union has established a partnership with PUSH Buffalo, whose main goal is also to help the people of the community that need it the most.

          “It’s something that we think our members can benefit from and people in the neighborhood should have,” Lonnie Barlow, communications director at PUSH said. “Instead of dealing with a big corporate bank, whose bottom line is basically just making money, no real social conscience, we hope that they are successful and could work for the community and grow.” 

          According to the credit union organizers, one in four people on the West Side, Riverside and Black Rock, don’t have access to basic financial services in this area. A credit union would offer a resource to fill the gap. It will protect people from things like predatory financial services, check-cashing services and rent-to-own companies. It will do this by offering all the financial services people need without the high interest rates big banks have, organizers said. 

          The people of the community have responded well to it also.

          “I think this is a great idea,” Betty Cordone, a West Side resident said. “I think it would help people buy homes and fix them up, so there aren’t so many abandoned.” 

          The credit union will serve anyone who lives, works, worships or volunteers anywhere west of Elmwood Avenue from City Hall to Kenmore Avenue and Vulcan Street. Customers are considered "members" and  buy shares in the company for $15 to $20 in order to use the credit union.

          “I think that they can make a big difference on the West Side,” Barlow said. “We started out with a couple of organizers 10 years ago doing our thing on the West Side and look at what PUSH has grown into.”

          The project is still at least two years away from opening its doors if everything goes to plan, and the search for a location is still on, but a location somewhere on Grant Street is the most popular choice as of now.