ONTARIO, Calif.–The California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues have announced a partnership with the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions to help interested CUs in both states become designated as “Juntos Avanzamos” (Together We Advance) organizations.
Juntos Avanzamos is a branding initiative whose organizers are helping credit unions across the nation become the preferred financial resource for local organizations serving underserved Hispanic immigrants.
“We hope the Juntos Avanzamos designation sends a clear message to communities that serve Hispanic immigrants,” said Larry Palochik, senior vice president of member solutions for the Leagues. “Juntos Avanzamos credit unions can be a valuable starting point for community development leaders who need a connection to offering trustworthy and transparent financial services for these people.”
Palochik addressed attendees last week during an event at the Mexican Consulate office in downtown Los Angeles, where credit union leaders discussed the opportunities and challenges of serving Hispanic immigrants with representatives of the Mexican Embassy system and a number of community-immigrant, legal, and economic organizations. More than 100 individuals attended the meeting, which was the California credit union movement’s first public entrance into “Juntos Avanzamos.”
El Monte, Calif.-based SCE FCU was recognized for being the first credit union in California to become Juntos Avanzamos certified. George Poitou, COO, was on site to accept the award.
“Reaching out to immigrants is a good investment and the right thing to do—in fact, it’s not only the right thing to do, it’s the legal thing to do,” he said in a statement distributed by the leagues. “Our branch in Boyle Heights here in Los Angeles is our most profitable location. We’re making all types of loans to these people to meet their needs. They become your most loyal members for life. More credit unions should explore getting involved in this.”
Federation Vice President of Membership and Business Development Pablo DeFilippi said Santa Cruz Community CU (Santa Cruz, Calif.) has also earned the title of Juntos Avanzamos, and three additional credit unions in California are in the review stages: Self-Help FCU, Kinecta FCU, and Family FCU. The branding project was started in 2005 by the Cornerstone Credit Union League and was opened nationally to all credit unions in September this year.
"We now have more than 40 credit unions in the country that are Juntos Avanzamo credit unions, which are mostly located in California, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas,” DeFilippi said. “They are local institutions your organizations can approach for connecting Hispanic immigrants who need trustworthy financial services. They have the capacity to communicate bilingually, to do ITIN lending (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number), to educate your clients, and they have a heart for advancing the financial livelihood of their members."
Of the more than 10 million people living in Los Angeles County, 3.5 million are Mexican-American, 1.5 million are foreign-born Mexican, and more than 500,000 are undocumented Mexican.