Finally! ¡Por Fin! ‘Bout Time!

Article found at EPA.net.

Community Trust Credit Union of East Palo Alto Is Open For Business

Community Trust Credit Union of East Palo Alto opened its doors for business on Wednesday, December 19, 2007. After three years of planning, much hard work, and unwavering faith, the dream of a mainstream financial institution owned and governed by the residents of East Palo Alto is a reality. Why is this important? Because the people of East Palo Alto and surrounding communities will now have easy access to high quality, low-cost financial services to take care of their everyday needs and a way to build assets for the future.

Community Trust Credit Union (CTCU) is a full-service, not-for-profit financial institution that has been established since 1961. Under the leadership of President and CEO Joe Duran, CTCU has become one of the most respected community development credit unions in the country largely because of its mission “to provide excellent personal service” to all of its members. That means it specializes in providing education, information, and end-use products that support financial stability for individuals and families who may not have experience in the financial mainstream helping them to take care of their day-to-day needs while planning for a financially secure future. This includes Latinos and other immigrant groups new to banking processes in the United States.

For the last three years, CTCU has been partnering with Northern California Urban Development (NCUD) to open a branch of their credit union in East Palo Alto. Lead by Pastor John Liotti, NCUD is a non-profit, faith-based organization whose mission is to eliminate systemic and generational poverty in Northern California’s urban communities by creating opportunities and providing services and education. NCUD serves EPA and adjacent eastern Menlo Park focusing efforts on economic development projects.

Pastor Liotti and NCUD board members Pastor Paul Bains and Keisha Woods worked with the East Palo Alto Fellowship of Faith, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, as well as many other community-based organizations and City government, to bring CTCU to the area. Together they enlisted the cooperation of Addison Avenue Federal, Patelco, and Stanford Federal credit unions to help bring the project to life. They chose CTCU for a branch in EPA because of its record of integrity and willingness to work with diverse populations to build their economic skills. The support of the collaborating credit unions and EPA’s community leaders is a continuing partnership which has now brought quality, low-cost financial services to the community that has been underserved by the financial mainstream for generations.

What are the requirements for membership? You just need to either live, work, or worship in the East Palo Alto, east Menlo Park, or surrounding areas. All that it takes to become a member is a minimum of $25 to open savings account and that’s it! As a member, you then have access to all the services and products for which you qualify – a variety of savings accounts, personal and secured loans, checking accounts, debit cards, ATM, money orders, and check cashing to mention just a few. Your savings are federally insured up to $100,000 by the National Credit Union Administration which oversees the safety and soundness of credit unions in the United States.

Stop by to meet the staff and see what the benefits of membership can mean to you!

Community Trust Credit Union of East Palo Alto
is located at:

1836 Bay Road, Suite B - East Palo Alto
(650) 838-9141
The hours are Wednesday through Friday from 2 pm to 6 pm
And Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm

Check out the CTCU website.

YWAMers Praised for Faith and Leadership

The Denver Post reports on the memorial service at the Denver YWAM base: "We're going to celebrate a life, we're not accentuating a death," said Faith Bible Chapel pastor George Morrison, in opening a memorial service today for two people killed at a missionary training school in Arvada . The service is called "A Celebration of Life for Tiffany and Philip." Philip Crouse and Tiffany Johnson died Sunday when a gunman opened fire at the school's dormitory. Youth With a Mission director Peter Warren said today both Crouse and Johnson embodied the spirit of the group. First the service focused on Crouse . "Phil gave his life to Jesus Christ and was never the same again," said Zach, a friend of Johnson's who met him years ago at a youth ministry in Alaska. At the time, Crouse was tough and wouldn't let people get close to him. "Over the years, Phil became a humble, teachable, sweet guy" who was able to reach kids with rough e...

Book: White Man's Burden - thoughts for Labor Day Weekend

I'm reading a fascinating book that has some of the same themes that run through Bob Lupton's recent writing. It's called 'White Man's Burden" by William Easterly. (I get the feeling some of you have read this already.) You can find it here. The title of the book is somewhat unfortunate, it's meant to be sarcastic. There are some amazing points here, stuff NCUD and others at CCDA have been talking about for years. I encourage you to check it out - here's a couple of great excepts from the first chapter: "But I and many other like-minded people keep trying, not to abandon aid to the poor, but to make sure it reaches them. Rich countries have to address the second tragedy if they are going to make any progress on the first tragedy. Otherwise, the current wave of enthusiasm for addressing world poverty will repeat the cycle of its predecessors: idealism, high expectations, disappointing results, cynical backlash." "Let’s call the advocates...

Big Gifts, Tax Breaks and a Debate on Charity

New York Times Article on the debate regarding the societal benefits of non profit donations. It's a somewhat rambling article, but my feeling is that this is a brewing debate. Eli Broad, a billionaire businessman, has given away more than $650 million over the last five years, to Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to establish a medical research institute, to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and to programs to improve the administration of urban schools and public education."What smart entrepreneurial philanthropists and their foundations do is get greater value for how they invest their money than if the government were doing it." "I got a plaque in the mail and an invitation to an awards ceremony. I never gave them another nickel. What were they spending money on plaques for?" The rich are giving more to charity than ever, but people like Mr. Broad are not the only ones footing the bill for such generosity. For every three dollars the...

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