15:44 | 22.07.2011
Chicago Credit Building Coalition to Provide Innovative, Credit-Building Financial Products along with Financial Education and Coaching
Representatives of 11 Chicago-area community development organizations
and Citi will gather today to applaud Chicago City Treasurer Stephanie
D. Neely’s launch of the Bank On Chicago financial inclusion
initiative and to announce that they have joined together to form the
Chicago Credit Building Coalition (CCBC).
The CCBC will expand financial inclusion for low- and moderate-income
residents in the Chicago area by complementing existing financial
education programs with a financial tool, provided by Citi, that
supports credit-building. The community development organizations
Justine PETERSEN and Credit Builders Alliance will provide the CCBC
members with assistance and tools to increase their capacity to provide
these services and to monitor the impact that financial coaching
complemented by the use of this product can have on individuals’ credit
profiles.
“Having a good credit profile is essential for lowering an individual’s
day-to-day transaction costs, growing their assets through small
business or homeownership and securing employment,” said Stephanie D.
Neely, Chicago
City Treasurer. “These organizations are demonstrating their
commitment to helping underserved Chicago residents, and by working
together they will have a tremendous, positive impact.”
The Chicago Credit Building Coalition members are: Chicago
Urban League; Citi
Community Development; Illinois
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; JVS
Chicago; Local
Initiatives Support Corporation of Chicago; Mercy
Housing Lakefront; National
Latino Education Institute; Neighborhood
Housing Services; Partners
in Community Building; The
Resurrection Project; South
Side Community Federal Credit Union; and Spanish
Coalition for Housing. Supporting partners of the CCBC are Justine
PETERSEN and Credit
Builders Alliance.
Highlights of the program include:
Financial coaching and education to help participants improve their
financial behavior and learn credit- and asset-building best practices.
Client access to a secured or unsecured credit card provided by Citi
subsidiary Banamex USA to help individuals build their credit history.
A streamlined, Web-based system to help nonprofit partners assist
clients with applying for and monitoring their use of the credit card.
Nonprofit Justine
PETERSEN developed the system along with Citi
Microfinance and will provide technical assistance to the CCBC
members for card processing.
The ability for CCBC members to monitor changes in their clients’
credit score, through the assistance of Credit
Builders Alliance, which will provide training and access to CCBC
members and the opportunity to identify those programs that are most
impactful.
“Especially in the current economic climate, being creditworthy is
essential to economic empowerment,” said Donna Rockin, Director of the
Illinois SBDC / Duman Microenterprise Center at JVS Chicago, which is
serving as the lead coalition member. “We have provided one-on-one
credit counseling for over 20,000 individuals since 1997. We’ve seen
that the right kinds of intervention can take people with low or no
credit scores and with significant debt to the point where they can buy
a home or start a business. By coming together to offer this innovative
package of financial tools and education, we are going to have a
tremendous impact in terms of helping Chicago residents establish and
raise their credit scores. It’s a collaborative and comprehensive model
that other cities will want to adopt.”
“The communities we serve need not only financial coaching but also
access to financial products and services in order to achieve financial
inclusion and success,” said Elba Aranda-Suh, Executive Director of the
National Latino Education Institute. “Citi’s ability to provide useful
financial tools that also will enable people to raise their credit
scores complements the critical financial coaching and education that
the coalition members are already providing.”
The Banamex USA credit card is already in use in other programs to help
people with low credit scores or no credit to build their histories and
increase their credit scores. For applicants with no or limited credit
history, the secured card requires a small minimum cardholder security
deposit of $300 and a commitment as prescribed by the community
organization to attend a series of free financial education classes on
improving one’s credit scores and financial capability. Early pilots
indicate that customers have increased their scores by an average of 50
points through the use of the card and financial education resources.
Close to 23 percent of customers opening a Banamex USA card originally
had no reported credit history.
“This initiative is the kind of collaborative approach that we’ve found
to be effective in our ongoing efforts to expand financial inclusion,”
said George Wright, Midwest Region Director for Citi Community
Development. “These local partners, with in-depth knowledge of the
financial challenges impacting Chicago residents, are combining forces
to maximize impact and scale of their credit building efforts. We think
that’s a smart strategy and we’re proud to provide the technical
assistance and the financial product to move this initiative forward.”
About the Chicago Credit Building Coalition (CCBC)
The Chicago Credit Building Coalition (CCBC) is a collaborative
initiative that will increase financial capability, expand access to
financial services, and provide financial coaching and a financial tool
— an unsecured or secured credit card offered by Citi — that will help
people build their credit scores.
About the Chicago Urban League
The Chicago Urban League works for economic, educational and social
progress for African Americans and promotes strong, sustainable
communities through progressive advocacy, effective collaboration and
innovative programming. The Chicago Urban League is committed to
implementing its mission by insuring access to quality education that
prepares individuals to become lifelong learners and to be competitive
and successful in the global economy, preparing individuals for work at
all levels in an ever-changing economy, developing engaged citizens, and
building strong families, supporting community based investment and
growth through facilitating entrepreneurship, business development, and
home and real estate ownership, advocating for policies and programs
that ensure equal participation by African Americans in the economic and
social mainstream and enabling individuals to live productive, longer
lives by insuring access to health and wellness education and services.
About Citi Community Development
Citi Community Development (CCD) is leading Citi’s commitment to achieve
economic empowerment and growth for underserved individuals, families
and communities by expanding access to financial products and services,
and building sustainable business solutions and innovative partnerships.
Our focus areas include: commercial and philanthropic funding;
innovative financial products and services; and collaborations with
institutions that expand access to financial products and services for
low-income and underserved communities. For more information, please
visit http://www.citicommunitydevelopment.com.
About Banamex USA
Banamex USA provides full banking services for companies and individuals
that do business in Mexico and the United States. As part of Citigroup,
Banamex USA is the U.S. banking arm of Banco Nacional de Mexico
(Banamex), Mexico’s premier bank. For corporate and individual customers
alike, Banamex USA is the gateway to and from the Mexican financial
markets.
About Credit Builders Alliance
The purpose of Credit Builders Alliance (CBA) is to help low and
moderate income individuals currently served by non-traditional
financial and asset building institutions build their credit and access
conventional financing. They do this by Innovative Products and
Services, Knowledge Sharing and Training and Research and Awareness
Raising.
About the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
The Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (IHCC) is a fully staffed
non-profit membership organization with well defined management,
financial, and administrative systems in place. IHCC staff and
consultants have combined experience of more than 75 years serving
businesses and providing training, advocacy and technical assistance.
IHCC enjoys a solvent financial standing through effective fund-raising
activities and corporate sponsorships. IHCC also counts among its
members many experienced, successful business owners and professionals
that serve as resources for staff and provide guidance and support for a
variety of activities. The Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (IHCC)
is one of the most successful membership business organizations in the
country.
About JVS Chicago
Founded in 1884, JVS Chicago is a non-profit, non-sectarian, fully
credentialed agency. JVS Chicago provides career counseling, training
and other employment services in an ever-changing job market. Serving
more than 11,000 clients annually, JVS Chicago provides the tools that
enable job seekers to obtain sustainable employment in today’s
competitive workplace. Our Illinois Small Business Development Center
(SBDC) at the Duman Microenterprise Center provides one-on-one
counseling at no charge for start-ups and pre-existing small businesses
in the Chicago metropolitan area. The Center offers entrepreneurial and
credit building training, business assistance, mentoring and access to
capital. JVS Chicago is supported by the Jewish United Fund/Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and other public and private funding.
To learn more about JVS Chicago, visit www.jvschicago.org.
About Justine PETERSEN
Justine PETERSEN is a nonprofit CDFI vendor located in St. Louis,
Missouri. Since 1997, Justine PETERSEN has provided one-on-one credit
counseling to over 16,000 individuals, assisted 4,300 to purchase homes
with safe, affordable mortgages, originated $7 million to 1200 micro
entrepreneurs, opened 1500 Individual Development Accounts, facilitating
$1.5 million in matching funds, and launched a wholly-owned CDFI that
originates credit building and pay day loan alternatives.
About the Local Initiatives Support Corporation of Chicago
The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is dedicated to helping
community residents transform distressed neighborhoods into healthy and
sustainable communities of choice and opportunity — good places to work,
do business and raise children. LISC mobilizes corporate, government and
philanthropic support to provide local community development
organizations with loans, grants and equity investments; local,
statewide and national policy support; and technical and management
assistance.
About Mercy Housing Lakefront
Mercy Housing Lakefront is the regional headquarters of the national
Mercy Housing. Mercy Housing Lakefront develops, owns and manages
affordable housing in an effort to build healthy, vibrant and stable
communities. Currently MHL owns 21 properties in 10 neighborhoods
serving nearly 3500 people in Chicago and Milwaukee.
About the National Latino Education Institute
National Latino Education Institute, (NLEI) is a not-for-profit
community service agency that was founded in 1972. The organization
evolved from an advocacy group formed in the late 60s by several
community leaders who decided to challenge major employers in the city
who consistently failed to hire qualified Hispanic applicants. Today, as
a provider of quality employment training and placement services. Each
year NLEI places hundreds of job seekers in industrial, clerical and
professional positions with over 300 companies and directly trains and
places over 200 students annually. Additionally, NLEI provides basic
adult education and English as a Second Language classes to hundreds of
adults.
About Neighborhood Housing Services
Established in 1975, NHS is a nonprofit neighborhood revitalization
organization committed to helping homeowners and strengthening
neighborhoods. Our mission is to create opportunities for people to live
in affordable homes, improve their lives, and strengthen their
neighborhoods. This is done by educating and preparing new homeowners
for success, lending to help people buy, fix and keep their homes,
sustaining homeownership through foreclosure prevention services,
preserving, rehabbing and investing in housing and building powerful and
enduring community partnerships. NHS is a successful nonprofit because
of the support of many stakeholders committed to helping homeowners and
strengthening neighborhoods.
About Partners in Community Building
Partners In Community Building, Inc. began in September 2002 by a group
of individuals from different backgrounds who share a common thread
about life and living within communities. On a foundation of mutual
respect, they work together to improve the life styles of seniors,
families, and individuals of low to moderate income with
excellence in housing, financing and community education. Our mission is
to provide and foster safe, sanitary and affordable housing to low to
moderate income individuals, families, and seniors, as well as related
community focused financial, education and human services information.
About the South Side Community Federal Credit Union
SSCFCU’s mission is to equalize access to affordable credit and
financial services and to fight poverty by providing meaningful
asset-building opportunities, through financial education, savings,
investments and community-development lending. SSCFCU is a
not-for-profit, federally insured, Community Development Financial
Institution (CDFI), chartered to serve Chicago’s south side, a
geographic region that has been neglected by banks, abandoned by
industry, and preyed upon by predatory lenders. By providing access to
capital, financial education, and homebuyer counseling to low-income
individuals, we fulfill our mission of fighting poverty, debt, poor
credit, and predatory lending practices. We further provide the
financial infrastructure that enables economically disadvantaged
individuals on Chicago’s south side to progressively develop credit,
build assets, and realize opportunities for individual and community
development.
About the Spanish Coalition for Housing
The Spanish Coalition for Housing (SCH) is the lead agency helping
Latino families with the housing needs in the greater Chicagoland area.
Spanish Coalition for Housing was created in 1966. The mission of
Spanish Coalition for Housing is to provide comprehensive counseling,
education and housing resources necessary for housing product consumers
to develop competence and responsibility in meeting their financial and
housing needs, provide the necessary information and assistance to
renters and homeowners, enable them to avoid re delinquencies, mortgage
defaults and foreclosures, aggressively market available resources; to
all Spanish speaking persons and others who require advocacy to which
ensures that they have equitable opportunity to access resources.
About The Resurrection Project
Nearly twenty years ago, neighbors in Chicago’s Pilsen community began
talking with new urgency about the blight, violence, and neglect they
saw on their blocks. Six of the community’s parishes helped residents
turn the talking into action when they joined together and each
contributed $5,000 in seed money to start a community organization to
address these infecting problems – and The Resurrection Project,
starting with one employee and a community full of concerns, was born.
Now two decades later, TRP has turned that initial $30,000 into over
$174 million in community investment in the form of homes for ownership,
rental housing, and community facilities (including 2 child care
centers) in its target neighborhoods of Pilsen, Little Village, and Back
of the Yards.
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