2022 Annual Report
A message from our CEO
- Financial services that help our members achieve their short- and long-term goals, no matter what their circumstances.
- Home lending that makes homeownership more accessible and more affordable to all.
- Financial capability coaching to help our members build the strongest financial foundation possible.
- Small business and nonprofit lending to create jobs, expand opportunity and contribute to community wealth.
- Real estate development that spurs community revitalization, provides affordable housing and anchors neighborhoods.
- Research, analysis and policy advocacy to promote financial fairness, end predatory lending, and close the racial wealth gaps.
Financial services rooted in communities
Financial Capability Coaching
Self-Help Financial Capability Coach Franja Meeks (L) and her client Erica Beal (R) outside Beal's Chicago home.
Erica Beal, originally from Springfield, IL, dreamed of living in Chicago and moved there as soon as she could. But with rising rents, she knew she wanted to put down roots. To get ready for homeownership, Erica worked with Self-Help financial coaches on a plan to pay down debts and improve her credit score. Soon after, Erica was able to move out of her apartment and into her own home in a quiet, cozy Chicago neighborhood.
We aim to set our members up for the strongest financial foundation possible through our fair and responsible financial services, and we put money back in our members' pockets wherever possible. That's why on March 1, 2022, we eliminated fees for non-sufficient funds (bounced check fees).
Self-Help Federal Credit Union member Pat Conti works with Self-Help staff member Claudia Daharo at our Napa, CA branch.
Since 1974, PFLAG SF has provided support and education to families and allies of the LGBTQ+ community in San Francisco. In 2022, PFLAG SF learned about our mission and chose us as their financial partner, for which we’re deeply honored.
Partners like PFLAG inspire us to continually improve our products and services to be inclusive as well as fair and affordable. That’s why we launched the My Name Card in 2022, which allows members to use their preferred name in financial transactions.
PFLAG SF chapter members march at the San Francisco Pride Parade.
Self-Help is committed to fair, responsible, and inclusive financial services. That is why we offer assistive technology loans to finance necessary technologies for people living with disabilities. When assistive technology borrower Amanda Spain (pictured) needed a new wheelchair-accessible vehicle, however, she discovered that most lenders don't include modifications like wheelchair ramps in the value of the vehicle.
Amanda worked with Self-Help's Director of Assistive Technology Lending Kimberly Williams at our Raleigh, NC branch to establish strong credit and purchase the wheelchair-accessible vehicle that gives her the mobility for work and social activities.
Staff at our Wilmington, NC location.
Premier Community Credit Union in Stockton, CA.
Winter Park, FL
Tallahassee, FL
We cherish our partnerships with organizations that share our values and whose work aligns with our mission. Homes of Hope, a nonprofit that develops safe, affordable, and energy-efficient housing for working families in Greenville, SC, has partnered with Self-Help since 2014 to provide affordable mortgages on the high-quality homes they build. We're grateful to partner with Homes of Hope to help meet a critical need and deploy our depositors' funds where they can make a significant impact.
Emilian Onweazu (center), a mother and domestic abuse survivor, came to Homes of Hope from a local crisis center with a goal of purchasing a home for herself and her children. She closed on her new home just before Christmas of 2022.
The high cost of housing in many U.S. cities means that many people can't afford to live in the cities where they work. Self-Help loan officers like Jorge Lopez Colunga (pictured) strive to make homeownership more accessible to working families, even in high cost-of-living areas like the San Francisco Bay Area. Working with borrowers to create the strongest foundation for the mortgage application process, we're fighting one borrower at a time to keep communities strong against the tide of displacement.
Families like Gabriel (center) and Meresse (left) Joseph in the Orlando, Florida area are proof-positive that together, we can make homeownership a reality for more families. Originally from Haiti, the Josephs had been saving steadily for years but thought that owning their own home was simply out of their reach.
During a routine visit to our Apopka branch, they heard about our products designed for first-time homebuyers and decided to take a chance. With loan officer Geannina Hiraldo (pictured right), the Josephs created a plan to fit their income and needs, and are now proud homeowners. Find out more about our resources and products for new and experienced homeowners.
Jamie and Eva Guzman walked into our Modesto, CA branch in August 2021 hoping to learn more about Self-Help. After working with our mortgage team, they prequalified and began looking for their first home. They moved into their dream home in March 2022 and Eva shares: “Our home has made such a difference and we will be grateful to Self-Help for all of our life.” Congratulations to the Guzman family!
The Zavaleta family of Sunnyside, Washington began their homeownership journey in 2021. They worked diligently with Self-Help loan officer Adriana Clara on a personalized plan to build up their credit and savings, and were prequalified in 2022. They closed on their home in November of 2022.
Commercial lending with an impact
SAN FRANSISCO, CA
When Bodhi Light International, a California-based, nonprofit Mahayana Buddhist organization, outgrew its existing temple, we worked with them to finance a new space in San Francisco's Parkside district to use as a temple and gathering facility. This will be its fourth facility, and second temple in northern California.
RALEIGH, NC
Raleigh-based Kitchens of Africa has roots in the west African country of Gambia, where founder Jainaba Jeng was born and raised.
Self-Help worked with Jeng to finance her small but growing business. Oprah Winfrey named Kitchen of Africa’s sauces and condiments in her 2022 list of Oprah’s Favorite Things!
RALEIGH, NC
Along with Raleigh-based affordable housing nonprofit CASA, we were the first to use the Wake County Affordable Housing Preservation Fund (WAHPF) to finance the preservation of the historic Grosvenor Gardens apartments and maintain them as affordable housing.
The Pilsen Housing Co-op (PIHCO) was created in 2017 to help residents stay in Pilsen, a predominantly Latino neighborhood of Chicago experiencing rapidly rising housing costs. PIHCO focuses on preventing the displacement of longtime low-to-moderate income residents, especially immigrant families and artists that have given Pilsen its unique character.
Self-Help worked with PIHCO to finance a six-unit, multi-family building to support PIHCO's expansion. The residents of this building will in turn have an opportunity to become new homeowners by securing stable, affordable ownership of the Co-op and building wealth while remaining in the neighborhood they have always known.
Luis Chavez, a resident of the Pilsen neighborhood for 17 years, signs a Membership Certificate for the purchase of his share in the Pilsen Housing Cooperative in Chicago, IL.
Putting your deposits to work in your community means investing in spaces for work, play, and creativity for everyone. That's why in 2022 we were eager to partner with community-minded developers in Pomona, California to restore the former Pomona YMCA (pictured left).
The building sits in the disinvested center of downtown Pomona, but local developer and historic preservation expert Ray Adamyk recognized the site's potential as a long-term investment in the community. Once completed, the interior will provide space for offices, community theater, arts studios, and a small commercial retail component, while the grounds will feature a skatepark and community greenspace.
In 2022, CRL issued the report Unsafe Harbor: The Persistent Harms of High-Cost Installment Loans which revealed the simple truth about high-cost installment loans with APRs above 36%— they cause borrowers to miss payments on other obligations, resulting in additional debt or a larger financial deficit.
Highlighting the high cost of student debt on working people
In November, CRL released “Paying from the Grave,” new research highlighting how high levels of college loan debt disproportionately burden and limit the life and work choices for students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), breaking the promise of a college education as a great equalizer.
CRL also launched a new "In Focus" video series designed to explore complex financial issues in accessible terms. Learn more on our Youtube channel and responsiblelending.org.
CRL also launched a new "In Focus" video series designed to explore complex financial issues in accessible terms. Learn more on our Youtube channel and responsiblelending.org.
Since 1893, the YMI Cultural Center has served as a critical space for Asheville, NC’s Black community, especially in times when few other spaces were available. Through the height of segregation, YMI housed office spaces, a public library, and an orchestra. In partnership with YMI, we're now managing the renovation and preservation of this historic center of Black culture in Asheville.
Asheville, NC’s historic YMI Cultural Center.
We see the restoration of old buildings as a powerful way to bring new life to communities through space for housing, entrepreneurship and community connections.
Located on a 50-acre historic textile campus in Northeast Greensboro, North Carolina, the Mill House represents this vision through the redevelopment of a historic warehouse building into a mixed-use building of office, coworking, retail and restaurant space, and mixed-income apartments.
The Mill House, Phase 2 of Self-Help's Revolution Mill project in Greensboro, NC.
Financials
Our mission is creating and protecting ownership and opportunity for all, especially people of color, women, rural residents and low-wealth families and communities.
The Self-Help family includes two credit unions; a nonprofit loan fund; and a nonpartisan research, analysis and policy group. Self-Help Federal Credit Union · Self-Help Credit Union · Self-Help Ventures Fund · Center for Responsible Lending
Locations in Washington, California, Wisconsin, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia and Washington, D.C
