NC Credit Union Peers Grant Self-Help Credit Union Social Responsibility Award

June 26, 2009 - PRLog -- Self-Help Credit Union has won the North Carolina Credit Union League’s annual Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Award for community service. Self-Help won the award in the $200 to $500 million-asset category for its continuing support of the Walltown Home Ownership project in Durham.

“Self-Help’s work in the community demonstrates the important influence credit unions can have on making a difference in people’s lives,” said NCCUL President/CEO John Radebaugh.  “As a result of the Walltown project, there is less crime, increased community and individual wealth, more services, and a general overall improvement in the quality of life in this formerly deteriorated section of Durham.”

Initiated by Self-Help in 1996 and completed last year, the Walltown project has helped revitalize a distressed community by bringing more than $6 million in new investment to the neighborhood, providing 57 home mortgages, renovating 82 homes, and financing a charter school and community theater.  

“We are truly honored to receive this award," said Self-Help Credit Union Vice President Thad Moore. “It is gratifying to be part of a community of cooperative financial institutions that honors its members for social responsibility. We are thankful for our depositors, and for other credit unions who believe in the positive change credit unions can bring to our communities.”

Self-Help will now compete with similarly sized credit unions for the national Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Award. Winners will be announced by the Credit Union National Association later this year.

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The NC Credit Union League represents the nearly 100 credit unions in NC. Credit unions are not for profit financial institutions that are owned and controlled by their members. Visit www.ncleague.org for more information.