Success Stories
Up one levelPreparing Students for Success
The school has created an environment of high achievement, in which intellectual curiosity is encouraged through demanding coursework and a comprehensive approach to education.
Independence Starts At This Point
“A partner is a different person than a person who just loans money,” he says. “With Self-Help and the USDA, I had partners that wanted to see me succeed.”
IDEA Public Schools: No Excuses in the Pursuit of Excellence
“Self-Help worked with us when other people thought we were too young,” says Tom. “Working with Self-Help was like looking into a highly magnified mirror. We saw both our strengths and our weaknesses, and it forced us to put together a very strong business plan.”
Combining a passion with a community need
Walk into Darnella Warthen’s A New Beginning child care facility in Durham, NC and you’ll quickly see it’s a busy place. Children exude excitement as they play games, assemble puzzles, and listen to stories. With about 30 children, several with special needs, things stay busy.
A Neighborhood On The Rise
Peachtree Hills is a model for neighborhood-based, collaborative response to the destruction wrought by foreclosure.
First-Time Homebuyers Settle into Sustainable Design Home
The couple moved into the 1020 Kent Street house in Durham’s Lyon Park neighborhood in spring 2009. The house was designed and built as an example of affordable sustainable design. It isn’t “green” simply because the shade of paint: the one-story bungalow features numerous environmentally conscious elements designed to maximize energy efficiency and sustainability at an affordable price.
Holding on to Homeownership
“I don’t know what part of the American pie it is, but it’s a slice I want to hold on to,”
Samuel & Sons Barbershop
Samuel Jenkins loves fishing metaphors. So let’s call his Samuel & Sons barbershop the “big catch” in a 20-plus-year career cutting hair.
Socially Responsible Investing - "A No-Brainer"
A dedicated social entrepreneur, Alexander co-founded Wellspring Grocery in Durham, NC, which grew to $11 million in sales before Whole Foods purchased it in 1991. She was one of Self-Help’s early depositors and has been referring people and organizations to Self-Help for years.
Self-Help Home Loan Helps Single Mom Build Her Dream
Persevering through the hardships of a divorce and a home foreclosure, home health care nurse Keona Melvin is celebrating the purchase of her new home. The loan was financed by Self Help Credit Union.
Carolina Mattress Guild
“The fire that nearly destroyed our plant was horrible tragedy we barely survived, but something like that makes you really go back and work hard. Using an SBA 504 loan to finance our new building was key to our recovery” -- Neal Grigg, President
A Blessing in Disguise
Self-Help borrower overcomes initial challenges to unveil innovative showroom with large, flowing spaces, 10-foot ceilings, and unique services.
Tang Soo Do Karate Center
“Tang Soo Do is about building a community within a community” - Karen Kehoe, co-owner of the Tang Soo Do Karate Center.
Building Green and Affordable
Self-Help finishes up work building the winning design from the N.C. Sustainable Design Competition.
Overcoming cancer and adversity to keep her home
Janie O’Neill was running out of options. The Winston-Salem grandmother won a long hard battle with cancer,only to find herself behind on her mortgage and facing foreclosure. Her husband had died several years before,and O’Neill had custody of her grandson, whose own mother was ill.
When Faith and Finances Come Together
Making a change in investment strategy is never a simple undertaking. Yet for the Directors of the Raleigh, North Carolina-based United Methodist Foundation (UMF), the decision to invest in Self-Help Credit Union came easily.
Blue Ridge Biofuels
A few years ago, in a little shed tucked away on a farm near the Blue Ridge Mountains, a small group of people started to work on some very big things.
Celebrating Abundance in Durham's Walltown
Seeded in 1996 with the purchase of 30 aging rental properties, the project was completed in 2007 with 77 homes renovated or rebuilt. “Building a community is first and foremost a spiritual challenge,” said Martin Eakes, “but the visionaries and homeowners in Walltown saw a different world and made it happen.”
Building Community Through Affordable Housing in Fuquay-Varina
Self-Help built seven energy-efficient, single-family homes in the Consolidated School Neighborhood, all designed to complement the architecture of the surrounding neighborhood. Self-Help and its partners develop affordable homes in distressed neighborhoods all across North Carolina, supporting revitalization of flagging communities and creating new homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income families.
Ashtae Products Inc.
This wife and husband team launched Ashtae Products over ten years ago by taking out an SBA 504 loan, a mortgage on their house and even borrowing from loyal customers.
Credit Unions Provide Expanded Financial Opportunities for Rural Residents
Self-Help is committed to providing access to financial services, including credit, to rural communities. Unfortunately, many of the small credit unions that traditionally provided these services are suffering due to declines in regional manufacturing and agricultural economies.
For the Littlejohns, Ownership Goes with a New Life
“If I can go from carrying everything I own in a bag on my back to owning a home, the possibilities are limitless.”
Historic People’s Building Spurs Rocky Mount Revitalization
Recognizing its potential to spur downtown revitalization, Self-Help purchased the building in 1999. The restoration, completed in 2006, was the first major private investment in downtown Rocky Mount in ten years.
Habitat for Humanity ReStore Expansion Funds New Home Development
The Charlotte chapter of Habitat for Humanity provides decent and affordable housing to low-income families in the region. In addition to its home-building efforts, the organization includes two building material resale shops, known as ReStores. These retail outlets sell merchandise donated by individuals and corporations to the public. The profits are used to build Habitat homes.
A Great Long-term Investment
Long-time member Eric Wiebe reflects on more than 20 years of investing at Self-Help.
The Fila Academy
“Our philosophy is that when you hit a roadblock in the way of a worthwhile objective you can either look for an escape or a solution. We found our solution in the SBA 504 loan program.”
Two Rivers Public Charter School
So what do the students and parents think about the school? Tiara “loves the diversity and her teachers.” James says he “likes the freedom to go to different classes and that they are always learning different things.”
City Cafe & Unique Systems
This SBA 504 loan helped transform an eyesore into a small-town anchor and sparked a retail renaissance.
Delia Allen
Ms. Allen buys a home in the newly revitalized neighborhood of Walltown in Durham, North Carolina.
Deposits: Assisting Others in Some Small Way
Sarah Johnson opened a deposit account at Self-Help because "I admire what Self-Help does to help people gain what our family has been so fortunate to have: our own home and a sense of financial stability."
Durham Homeowner Gives Back With New House
“Without (my Self-Help loan), I might have had another mortgage at 14 percent, 18 percent… and after three months, I wouldn’t have been able to pay. This loan is so affordable, it’s unbelievable.”
Encore Sporthorse Dressage Training Center
“My business has doubled. I have 15 horses in full training now, which is a phenomenal increase in business due to the quality of facility we were able to buy. --Susie Wiedman, Owner
Manufactured Housing Success
Self-Help Credit Union's Affordable Alternative Housing Product (AAHP).
Native Angels Home Care
“A lot of people said we wouldn’t make it – ‘it’s a fly-by-night operation’ – but we’re flying high now.” -- Lesa Jacobs, Native Angels
New Life Child Care Center
Self-Help Borrower Ruby McKinzie helps support her family and her community with an expanding childcare center in Goldsboro, NC.
Helen Mangum - Microloan Borrower
Durham, NC Hairstylist Builds Her Business with a Self-Help Microloan
Socially Responsible Personal Investing
Duke professor and philanthropy expert Joel Fleishman describes Self-Help as an example of imaginative foundation grantmaking and a "terrific way to engage in socially responsible personal investing."
World's Edge
Self-Help partners with the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy to preserve land for a state park.
Shimar Recycling: Conserving Natural Resources One Small Business at a Time
In 1997 recycling educator Meredith Marley was only in her mid-20s and had no thoughts of becoming a business owner. She now heads up Shimar Recyling in Durham, NC, a thriving non-hazardous waste recycling coordinator for small businesses.
