Martin's Letter 2022

We know our members can do great things when they have access to equitable opportunities; the events of 2022 made this challenging. As the world started to put the COVID epidemic behind us, we faced high inflation, daunting housing costs, and rising interest rates.

‍But the past year also served to make the need for fair and equitable financial services clearer than ever.

Highlights and reflections from 2022:

We continued to partner with more communities around the country. From our first $77 deposit over 40 years ago, we’ve grown to nearly 80 locations across eight states.
While more banks are closing their branches, we’re continuing to build and provide points of contact in the communities we serve to keep us accountable and community-rooted. Our physical spaces also help us to build the base for policy change, including the battle against payday lenders. In coalition with organizations and community leaders in South Carolina, we’re working to restrain high-cost consumer lending.
We saw the challenges of inflation for our members and enhanced our products and services to support the needs of working people, including saving our members more money by eliminating fees for nonsufficient funds.

As we look ahead to the challenges and opportunities of 2023, we remain committed to combatting climate change in partnership with our communities and members, and exploring how we can move closer to environmental justice through the Inflation Reduction Act and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

As economic forces continue to impact working people, we've increased our minimum wage to $19.50 per hour, supporting our staff.

We’ll continue to deepen our connections with the communities we serve.

And as the economy continues to present barriers to building wealth, we’ll continue to fight to increase homeownership among working families, and especially families of color. We thank our members and supporters for joining us in our work to create a fairer and more just society and economy for all. Your mission-supportive deposits are an essential ingredient to carrying out our mission. We’re grateful for your continued support.

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Dear Members, Partner and Friends,