center for community self help type cdfi founded 1980 headquarters durham north carolina key people martin eakes ceo products financial services microfinance number of employees 240 website self help.org the center for community self help self help is a community development lender and real estate developer . it was founded in durham north carolina in 1980 . self help is one of the largest community development financial institutions in the united states and a leader in profitably lending to underserved borrowers and communities . self help s mission is to create and protect ownership and economic opportunity for all . self help does this by providing responsible financial services lending to small businesses and nonprofits developing real estate and promoting fair financial practices . while self help s work benefits communities of all kinds the focus is on those who may be underserved by conventional lenders including people of color women rural residents and low wealth families and communities . impact . through 2014 self help provided 6.8 billion in financing representing over 100 000 loans to families individuals and organizations . 1 self help credit union has 18 branch offices 2 located all over north carolina . in recent years self help s credit union network has expanded 3 in north carolina california and the chicago area as summarized here north carolina . in recent years self help credit union has merged with nine community focused credit unions.these locally rooted institutions were seeking to stabilize their operations and increase their products and services . in one recent example a 2014 merger with generations community credit union helped to preserve and expand services for predominantly african american communities in eastern and central nc . california . in 2008 self help started serving in california as self help federal credit union shfcu . shfcu has grown through eight mergers with community focused credit unions throughout the state . in los angeles self help acquired five stores from a conventional check casher and converted them into a hybrid check casher credit union model that serves unbanked and underbanked consumers . chicago . when federal regulators closed second federal savings and loan in the chicago area self help partnered with local community organizations to keep its branches open and assist customers . in 2012 self help acquired second federal s & l and continued service to 14 000 predominantly latino depositors and borrowers . altogether self help credit union and self help federal credit union have merged with 14 credit unions and one bank to create a network of over 40 branches serving almost 130 000 people in three states . contents 1 history 1.1 helping small businesses grow 1.2 supporting homeownership 1.3 developing communities 1.4 fighting predatory lending 2 awards 3 notes 4 external links history edit martin eakes and bonnie wright founded self help in 1980 to provide management assistance to worker cooperative businesses in low income communities . in 1984 self help established its financing affiliates self help credit union and self help ventures fund to help disadvantaged individuals build wealth through home and small business ownership . helping small businesses grow edit self help s early lending focused on small businesses . the organization adapted international microlending models to the u.s. market and then expanded into larger loans well suited to bigger firms that were a main source of employment in rural communities . over the years self help diversified its lending to businesses and nonprofits . through 2014 self help had made over 800 million in loans to entrepreneurs . supporting homeownership edit in 1985 self help began making home loans to north carolina families who were unable to get conventional mortgages . the goal was to expand homeownership opportunities as a way to help lower and middle class families build wealth and financial security . looking to expand its community development impact in the late 1980s self help worked with fannie mae to create more home buying opportunities for underserved borrowers . after initial successes self help partnered with fannie mae and the ford foundation in 1998 to create the community advantage program which provides credit enhancement to conventional lenders enabling them to make flexible home loans to low wealth families . the community advantage program made over 2 billion in affordable home mortgage loans to minority and low wealth homebuyers nationwide over a five year period . 4 self help tracked the data from this program which showed that low income borrowers are good credit risks when they are offered responsible loans at fair rates . 5 developing communities edit self help s first real estate development project took place in durham nc where self help converted a downtown office building into affordable space for local nonprofits and small businesses and self help s own lending office . since then self help has developed and invested 144 million in commercial real estate projects to invigorate downtown areas and neighborhoods and created affordable housing for 228 families . fighting predatory lending edit in the late 1990s homeowners began coming to self help credit union seeking help to avoid foreclosure after unscrupulous subprime lenders had siphoned off their home equity . the tipping point came the day self help staff reviewed the paperwork on a 29 000 mortgage showing the family had been charged 15 000 in fees 6 in response to such abusive and completely legal loans self help worked with a state coalition in 1999 to help pass the north carolina predatory lending law the first such law in the country . 7 in 2002 self help established the center for responsible lending crl 8 to build on initial successes and expand our focus nationally and to tackle practices such as payday lending in addition to mortgage lending . since 2002 crl has worked with community advocates policymakers and industry groups to fight against outrageous lending abuses that strip billions of dollars from american families . 9 awards edit over the years self help has received numerous awards for its work from organizations such as preservation north carolina 10 the north carolina department of commerce and the triangle commercial real estate women . 11 in 2007 self help was named one of the twelve high impact nonprofits in the book forces for good along with other organizations such as america s second harvest habitat for humanity the heritage foundation and teach for america . 12 in june 2009 self help won the dora maxwell social responsibility award which recognizes and promotes credit unions social responsibility efforts within the communities they serve . 13 in 2009 aarp awarded self help co founder and ceo martin eakes an inspire award which pays tribute to ten extraordinary people age 50 and over who have made the world a better place through their innovative thinking passion and perseverance . other 2009 winners included glenn close quincy jones and alma powell . 14 in 2011 the ford foundation named co founder and ceo martin eakes named one of twelve social change visionaries honored by in recognition of the foundation s 75th birthday . all twelve social innovators were awarded 100 000 . ford s release stated that martin eakes is a national leader in the fight against abusive financial practices that target poor people and trap them in cycles of poverty . 15 notes edit community impact 1980 2014 pdf . self help . spring 2015 . retrieved november 9 2015 . locations nc credit union self help credit union . www.self help.org . retrieved 2015 11 09 . our story nc credit union history self help credit union . www.self help.org . retrieved 2015 11 09 . fast company . social capitalists center for community self help december 19 2007 . retrieved july 15 2009 . the continuing importance of homeownership evidence from the community advantage program pdf . unc center for community capital . summer fall 2014 . retrieved november 9 2015 . self help s story . self help . retrieved november 9 2015 . north carolina coalition for responsible lending . center for responsible lending . retrieved november 9 2015 . center for responsible lending . www.responsiblelending.org . retrieved 2015 11 09 . about crl . center for responsible lending . retrieved november 9 2015 . preservation north carolina 2007 honor award winners . october 2007 . retrieved july 15 2009 . self help receives award for innovative financing . retrieved on july 15 2009 crutchfield leslie . forces for good the six practices of high impact nonprofits . san francisco jossey boss 2007 . north carolina credit union league . self help credit union wins dora maxwell award . 2009 6 15 . retrieved on july 15 2009 . aarp . inspire award 2009 honorees . february 2009 . retrieved on july 15 2009 http www.csrwire.com press releases 32153 twelve social change visionaries are honored by the ford foundation external links edit self help center for responsible lending retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title center for community self help & oldid 729678623 categories organizations based in north carolinamicrofinance organizationscredit unions based in north carolina navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 13 july 2016 at 20 42 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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