(January 10, 2007 – New York, NY)  Thanks to the support of some of the largest credit unions in the country, many of the Federation’s member community development credit unions (CDCUs) will be able to enjoy the services of BALANCE, a highly-regarded financial counseling and education service, at no cost in 2007.

“Three of our most prominent Community Development Partners – Orange County Teachers FCU (Santa Ana, CA), Suncoast Schools FCU (Tampa, FL), and State Employees’ CU (Raleigh, NC) – have made special contributions to enable us to offer BALANCE free of charge to all our members under $25 million in assets, and at a significant discount for other Federation members,” said the Federation’s Executive Director Cliff Rosenthal.  “This means that thousands of low- and moderate-income CDCU members will be able to obtain free hotline services, such as one-on-one money management and budget and debt counseling.  We are also excited that BALANCE will be able to offer foreclosure prevention advice, which will be especially valuable for our affordable-mortgage CDCU Secondary Market.”

Rudy Hanley, President and CEO of Orange County Teachers FCU, explained that “Financial education and ‘know-how’ are crucial to every person’s wellbeing.  In today’s highly complex and changing environment, it is critical that individuals have somewhere to turn to for assistance, especially in light of the number of entities with little concern for the consumer.  Having these services available from BALANCE fills a great need, especially in certain segments of our society.  We believe it is an obligation for those of us who can help fill this need.”

Joanne Budde, President of BALANCE, described her organization’s role in the changing market place.  “In recent years, the credit counseling industry has drastically changed.  Lots of new ‘debt consolidators’ have entered the field.  They charge high fees to consumers, don’t provide comprehensive budget counseling, provide very poor service, and end up causing members more problems – not solving them. We believe that offering BALANCE without cost to CDCU members and their families will really make a big difference in their lives.”

The Federation’s program is being coordinated by Pamela Owens, its Director of Education and Training (powens@cdcu.coop) and Pablo DeFilippi, Associate Director of Membership Development (pablo@cdcu.coop). 

CDCUs interested in participating in this special offer should contact Ms. Owens or Mr. DeFilippi directly.  Additional information will soon be available this web site and at: www.balancepro.org/nationalfederation.

© 2007 National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions.