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Why Financial Literacy?
With interest rates often in excess of 250% and exploitative practices that put the homes and automobiles of poor borrowers at risk, predatory financial services are an increasing threat to low- income and minority communities across the United States. Despite the economic boom of the 1990's, payday lenders grew from 300 outlets in 1994 to more than 8,000 by 2000, and that number has only continued to grow.
According to Fannie Mae, almost two-thirds of the households that rely on fringe lending are either Hispanic or African-American. Without targetted efforts to improve the financial literacy of those most at risk, predatory lending will remain a growth industry for many years to come.
The Federation has loing led the battle against predatory lenders through our financial literacy campaign: Each One, Teach Many. This program is designed to help community development credit unions to deliver effective financial education programs and improve the economic security of local communities. We believe that financial literacy is a key to economic independence and provides disadvantaged communities with the knowledge and freedom to build a better future without fear of losing their hard-earned assets to financial predators.
Program Background
On October 18, 2002 the Federation celebrated the first Financial Literacy Day in New York City. This celebration launched the Federation's Each One, Teach Many campaign, the first train-the-trainer program designed specifically for credit unions that serve low- and moderate-income communities. Our team of professionals will train your credit union staff, volunteers and partners to serve as financial literacy instructors. Each instructor will then be able to teach members in their community to manage their money and take control of their financial lives.
Each One, Teach Many is based on Your Path to Financial Freedom, a special workbook and facilitator's guide developed for the Federation by the Denver-based National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE). The workbook has been incredibly popular with our members and is used extensively in our programming.
To date, the Federation has trained more than 650 instructors who have provided financial education to 17,000 residents in low- and moderate-income communities across the nation, including 3,200 people in New York.
Your Path to Financial Freedom is available to Federation members free of cost. For copies of Your Path to Financial Freedom, please contact Pamela Owens at (800) 437-8711 x215 or powens@cdcu.coop.
Non-member credit unions should contact Ms. Owens for additional information.
The Federation's Financial Literacy program has been made possible by grants from the American Express Foundation; Mizuho USA Foundation, Inc.; Fleet Bank, US Trust Bank; and North Fork Bank.
Financial Literacy Resources for Credit Unions
Future Train-the-Trainer Workshops
For future trainings and events from the Federation, please see our Calendar of Events.
If you are interested in hosting or participating in a Train-the-Trainer event, please contact Pamela Owens, Director of Education & Training at: powens@cdcu.coop, or (800) 437-8711 x215.
