2015 Awardees
Brittany Moore’s mornings are timed with precision. After a lively early morning scramble to leave the house, she drops her young daughter at day care before making the long drive to work. When Brittany’s car broke down, she couldn’t afford to wait to fix it—but she also needed help financing repairs. Luckily, her employer offered Sunrise Banks’ TrueConnect, an affordable short-term, small-dollar loan.
The decline of southwestern Virginia’s once booming farm and coal industries brought high rates of poverty and unemployment to the region. Today, well-paying, steady jobs are hard to find and often require training to get ahead. Trucking is one of the few thriving exceptions. Nationwide, there is a shortage of drivers, and, in the Roanoke area, men and women from all walks of life come to CDS Tractor Trailer Training to prepare for the open road.
“I was walking down Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard one day and had in mind to open a bank account. I saw Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union and became a member,” says Steward Mitchell, a Harlem resident at the time. That was 2010, and he says, ever since, “It’s been very good to me. I’ve opened a checking and savings account, and the credit union’s financial counseling and planning programs helped me start a budget and a plan. They’re great people; they really care.”
CPCDC will use the NEXT Seed grant to expand its Employee Loan in CPN and among other tribal communities, and to launch a home improvement loan and a storm shelter loan for tornado-prone areas.
Justine PETERSEN is creating opportunities for consumers to access affordable consumer credit and improve financial health by expanding two loan products—a credit building product and a small dollar loan product—into new geographies.
DOF is marking the 25th anniversary in 2015 of the Americans with Disabilities Act by supporting implementation and rapid adoption of the new ABLE account (Achieving a Better Life Experience).