About Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development and Fresno County Federal Credit Union

Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development (FWCED) is a non-profit organization that was started by a group of community residents who wanted to bring a grocery store to their isolated neighborhood. After succeeding in their first effort, FWCED continued to fight for improved access to additional services for the neighborhood.  They expanded their mission to include advocating for improvements in the health, housing, and employment status of its residents.  Since then, FWCED organized several resume-building and interviewing skills sessions, business development sessions, and tax assistance programs.  Most recently the Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development worked with the Woodstock Institute to foster a comprehensive partnership with the Fresno County Federal Credit Union (FCFCU) to provide financial education services and community clients the opportunity to become credit union members with active accounts.

FWCED first realized the need for comprehensive financial services in 2003 after a survey conducted that year by community leaders found that 25 percent of Fresno West residents used payday loan products.  Three payday loan outlets located in the neighborhood carry a 456 percent APR on their short-term loans, the maximum allowed by California usury law.  A FWCED survey of 900 low-income Fresno residents indicated that 95 percent of respondents were interested in using credit union services; check cashing and wire transfers were the cited as the most needed services.

With no bank branches and residents having to travel considerable distances to reach the closest financial institution, FWCED sought out a credit union partner with technical assistance coming from the Woodstock Institute.  Woodstock researched area credit unions to find a suitable partner for FWCED and also assisted the community organization in conducting demographic studies that demonstrated a viable new market of potential credit union members in the community.

Fresno County Federal Credit Union (FCFCU) has four branches, fourteen ATMs, over one hundred fifty employees, a membership of over 40,000 and more than $400 million in assets.  Membership in FCFCU is open to employees of over 100 select employee groups and the immediate family members of these employees.  FCFCU always believed in the credit union movement’s mission of reaching the undeserved, but was unable to find an effective strategy towards this overarching goal before the beginning of the partnership negotiations.

About the Partnership

Marva Williams, Senior Vice President of Woodstock Institute, met with representatives of FWCED and FCFCU in early 2005 to broker an agreement on the structure of the new association.  The goals of the partnership were to increase credit union membership among Fresno West residents, provide better access to credit union services by locating an ATM in the area, and offer financial services tailored to the community such as affordable home mortgages and small business loans.  Additionally, the credit union would assist the association in providing financial education services, including sessions on basic personal financial management, first-time homeownership, small business development, and awareness campaigns about predatory loan alternatives.  With assistance from the Woodstock Institute over the past year, bylaws for the new Fresno West Association were written and adopted, which began the process of establishing the associational field of membership (FOM) between the Fresno West Coalition and the Fresno County Federal Credit Union.

As a starting point, FWCED used a list of both their clients and visitors of their employment center to help promote asset building through membership in the Fresno West Association.  Last year, FWCED was able to expand upon these efforts after conducting a survey that identified over 600 people interested in the financial opportunities made available by the new partnership. 

Despite illustrating a large potential market for credit union services, FWCED confronted several complications while attracting a credit union partner. FWCED and FCFCU had difficulties negotiating how to expand the credit union’s FOM to include the residents of Fresno West. The credit union was reluctant to add Fresno West’s zip code as a geographical field of membership (FOM) because of concerns about maintaining a narrow customer focus and superior customer service; the zip code extends into a rural area to the west of town, which would have the effect of adding additional rural communities.

To ensure that the partnership targeted FWCED clients and protected the integrity of FCFCU’s membership base, Woodstock Institute suggested that an associational FOM be added to the credit union’s charter.  Once FWCED clients completed a money management workshop, they would be eligible to join the Fresno West Association. Among the benefits to members of the Fresno West Association is an invitation to apply for membership in FCFCU. 

Partnership Outcomes

On March 1, 2006, FWCED had an official press event for the installation of a FCFCU ATM at the area grocery store, an appropriate location for such an event since it was the fight for that same grocery store that formalized the group’s existence only seven years earlier.  The press event, which was covered in an article by the Fresno Bee, helped formally announce the partnership.

As of July 26, 2006, the Fresno West Association had 275 members.  The Association has experienced great success in getting their members join the credit union with 50 members having joined and opened accounts with FCFCU.  At an affordable housing fair on November 19, 2005, the credit union conducted two 3-hour home ownership workshops, which were attended by over 60 community members.  FCFCU also set up booths at FWCED's EITC tax assistance sites and worked with the Fresno West Association to develop a full financial workshop package.  The credit union designated a staff member to work with the financially underserved, and has been actively organizing and leading additional financial workshops as part of the Fresno West Association's programming.  Additionally, FCFCU has proven a terrific partner for FWCED as they have participated in every one of their monthly First Time Homebuyer workshops since June

2005.

The classes have averaged 25 individuals and FCFCU will be one of the lead organizations in their new Homeowners Institute that will provide in-depth assistance towards purchasing a home, credit counseling and repair, money management, the purchase process, etc.  An article in the Fresno Business Journal discussing predatory lending featured a discussion about the partnership. The developments with this partnership are particularly important for FWCED, since a recent analysis of Census data from the Brookings Institute demonstrated a higher proportion of poor people in Fresno lived in areas of concentrated poverty than in any other major city in the country.  The credit union serves as a dedicated provider of affordable financial services, an urgently needed alternative to high cost lenders that prey on the financially vulnerable of West Fresno. 

Lessons Learned

Through facilitating the partnership between FWCED and FCFCU, the Woodstock Institute learned several important lessons that were essential to making the partnership work.

1.      The community organization (FWCED) did their homework.  They conducted two studies in 2003 researching consumer demand for credit union services.

2.    The credit union (FCFCU) was flexible in revising their FOM through the addition of the Fresno West Association.

3.   National Credit Union Association regulation facilitating the adoption of underserved communities was crucial to the credit union being responsive to Fresno West residents.

4.     Credit unions and associations sometimes need to step back and consider all alternatives. FWCED and FCFCU had hit a road block until the Woodstock Institute identified the ability to establish an associational add to FCFCU’s FOM.

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