About Annie Vamper

When Annie Wilma Vamper passed away on May 19, 1990, the community development credit union movement lost one of its heroes — and an important part of its history. For more than 30 years, Annie Vamper served in virtually every role the credit union movement has to offer. Born in Bessemer, Alabama in 1933, she started as a volunteer with the College City Elks Lodge FCU in 1958. By 1962, she began working with the M.C.E. FCU, where she served as manager until 1966.

During the War on Poverty in the 1960s, Annie was recruited to become the Credit Union Coordinator for Dade Economic Opportunity Program in Florida, where she organized, chartered, and trained the staff of twelve neighborhood credit unions. Her work caught the attention of the Bureau of Federal Credit Unions, and she became a Limited-Income Credit Union Specialist for the Southeast Region. She joined the team of Project Moneywise, to promote consumer education and cooperation among low-income people. In 1972, as the nation began to turn away from the problems of the poor, Annie returned to managing a credit union, Coulter Electronics Employees FCU, where she served for 8 years before being recruited again by the National Credit Union Administration.

With the passage of the Community Development Credit Union Revolving Loan Fund, NCUA moved to establish a new CDCU division, and Annie became its second in command. But by 1982, the office was dissolved, a victim of deregulation and the ebbing interest in programs to help the poor. Annie accepted a transfer to New Jersey, where she entered into training to become a field examiner for NCUA. But by this time, her unique skills and interest no longer were valued by the agency. In September 1983, she left NCUA for the last time.

It was then that she came to the National Federation of CDCUs, joining it’s only remaining staff member, Cliff Rosenthal, in the rebuilding of the Federation. She became Associate Director — and chief financial officer, Capitalization Program staff, regulatory analyst, and “godmother” to half a dozen new CDCUs that were formed during the 1980s. Until her death in 1990, she gave every ounce of her strength, her commitment, and her love to the CDCU movement.

In 1993, the Helping Hands Award was created to honor Annie Vamper’s memory, along with the dedication of the Federation’s training center at our New York headquarters. Each year since 1993, The National Federation of CDCUs celebrates the people whose unselfish work for the CDCU movement carry-on Annie’s legacy.

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2006 Vamper Awardee Profiles

This year the Federation honored three individuals whose selflessness and commitment to their CDCUs has gone above and beyond the call of duty.  The 2006 Annie Vamper "Helping Hands" Awards were held in Durham, NC on Friday, June 9, 2006 to a standing-room-only audience. Congratulations to the recipients of this year's awards!

Rev. Dr. Tommy C. Chappell
NRS Community Development Federal Credit Union (Birmingham, AL)

Rev. Tommy C. Chappell is an entrepreneur who understands the power of savings and the importance of economic help to others.  Rev. Chappell’s idea to form a community-based credit union was motivated by the denial of commercial and real estate loans and other financial services to minority entrepreneurs and low-come citizens of Birmingham.  He continued to labor for many years until the NRS Community Development FCU was chartered on September 3, 1996.  The credit union’s goal is to help citizens of Birmingham obtain and establish credit worthiness, promote thrift and offer loans and other financial services.  Rev. Chappell has served on the NRS board as a director and as Chairman of the Supervisory Committee for several years.  Because of his innovative leadership and continued support, the Alabama Credit Union League acknowledged NRS as the 2003 credit union of the year. 

Rev. Chappell’s inspiring leadership is known throughout the city of Birmingham and the state of Alabama.  In 1999, Rev. Chappell was recognized by the state legislature for his great spiritual and economic work and in 2001, the street where the credit union and church are located where dedicated in his honor.  Never one to rest on his laurels, Rev. Chappell continues to develop housing, education, and financial literacy programs for the community.

John Isbister
Santa Cruz Community Credit Union (Santa Cruz, CA)

For almost thirty years, John Isbister has served on the board of SCCCU.  Through all the years, John has remained focused on accomplishing the Credit Union’s goals of promoting economic justice in the Santa Cruz community and being a financially stable cooperatively owned, community–based financial institution serving its members. His book, Thin Cats, has been used nationwide as one of the best volumes on the community development credit union movement in the United States.
John has always stepped up to take a leadership role when the credit union has been faced with challenges.  He has been consistently thoughtful and constructive in his approach to problem-solving on behalf of the credit union and its membership.  John has taught countless board and staff members what it means to be responsible leaders in the credit union movement.  He is a teacher, leader and true believer that through the power of the community development credit union movement, we can make a better world, one member and one community at a time.  

Thad Moore
Self-Help Credit Union (Durham, NC)

Thad Moore has been the moral center of Self-Help Credit Union for over twenty-five years.  He is one of the unsung heroes who have dedicated his life to promoting social justice and creating economic opportunity for the underserved.  Thad is one of the few people that have been a community organizer and the present leader of a $200 million community credit union.  He recognizes the two roles are really one and the same, namely how to educate and serve families and neighborhoods of modest means.  He has been present at every critical junction from the Rose Garden ceremony creating the CDFI Fund, to co-founding the credit union, hiring the first paid staff person, and presiding as President of Self-Help Credit Union.

Thad’s satisfaction has come from knowing that the job has been done well and that the mission -helping people and communities build wealth- has been served. He has provided leadership to many of the credit unions in North Carolina in the areas regarding credit union operations, management and regulatory compliance.  He has inspired and motivated others to start new and innovative programs.  His quiet demeanor yet firm resolve evokes the phrase “when Thad speaks, everyone listens”.

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Previous Annie Vamper Winners (1993 – 2005)

2005
Lillian M. Bent	Union Settlement FCU (New York, NY)
Daisy Q. White	1st Delta FCU (Marks, MS)
2004
William Myers	Alternatives FCU (Ithaca, NY)
José Feliciano Vélez	Electro-Coop (San Juan, PR)
2003
Eddie Ayers	Demopolis FCU (Demopolis, AL)
Lillie Hackney	Imani FCU (Memphis, TN)
2002
Maria Berkowitz	Central Appalachian Peoples FCU (Berea, KY)
James Gilliam	St. Luke CU (Windsor, NC)
Mary Spink	Lower East Side People’s FCU (New York, NY)
2001
Audrey Cerise	ASI FCU (New Orleans, LA)
Robert L. Coleman, Jr.	Northwest Baptist FCU (Seattle, WA)
Loretta Moesta	OUR FCU (Eugene, OR)
James H. Parson	Church of the Master FCU (New York, NY)
2000
John Stovall	Zion United CU (Denver, CO)
Antonio & Elodia Elizondo	Weslaco Catholic FCU (Weslaco, TX)
Charles Green	Cory Methodist Church CU (Cleveland, OH)
Reverend Carl Brown	Quitman County CD FCU (Marks, MS)
1999
Almedia Knight & Daisy Dobbins	Brooklyn Ecumenical FCU (Brooklyn, NY)
Ruth C. Carter	New Hope Baptist Church of East Orange FCU (East Orange, NJ)
Dr. Hiram Crawford, Jr.	Israel Methcomm FCU (Chicago, IL)
Jerry Weitz	Mission Area FCU (San Francisco, CA)
Catherine Mayfield	St. Charles Borromeo Church FCU (NewYork, NY)
1998
Robert Shipe	First American CU (Window Rock, AZ)
Bette Mercia	BHA Residents FCU (Binghamton, NY)
Elizabeth Ahart	Faith Community United CU (Cleveland, OH)
Ruth Atkins	Union Settlement FCU (New York, NY)
1997
Curtis W. Monroe	D. Edward Wells FCU (Springfield, MA)
Carl E. Stewart	Water & Power FCU (Los Angeles, CA)
1996
Joy Cousminer	Bethex FCU (Bronx, NY)
Eugene Sklar	Union Settlement FCU (New York, NY)
Adolfo Alayon	Community Action for Bedford-Stuyvesant (Brooklyn, NY)
1995
Woodrow Keown	College Station CD  FCU (College Station, AR)
Clyde Johnson	South-Central People’s FCU (Los Angeles, CA)
1994
Mary Walker	Hill District Federal Credit Union (Pittsburgh, PA)
James Caskey	South Baltimore Community FCU (Baltimore, MD)
Sr. Ann Kendrick &  Lois Kitsch	Community Trust Federal Credit Union (Apopka, FL)
1993
Earnest Johnson	Federation of Southern Cooperatives - (Epes, AL)
Clifford Rosenthal	National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions