Credit-union forum Monday at South Side church

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

City residents are invited to a town-hall forum Monday at New Bethel Baptist Church, 1507 Hillman St., to hear about and discuss the opening of the Community of Faith Credit Union.

The forum begins at 6:30 p.m. The session is sponsored by Economic Empowerment Steering Committee, the Baptist Pastors’ Council, the Community Mobilization Committee and the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance.

In April, the credit union’s committee members mailed letters to about 100 churches in the Youngs-town area seeking commitment and financial support.

The fundraising goal announced then was $150,000. That amount will qualify the credit union for $1.5 million in nonmember deposits from the Ohio Credit Union League.

“The Community of Faith Credit Union project is at a critical point in its development,” says a press release. Economic Empowerment Steering Committee members have worked to put the credit union together, but it now needs public support and input.

The session will alert those attending on what has been accomplished thus far and what still needs to be done to make the credit union a reality.

The credit union’s goal is to help low-income people become financially literate and provide services such as checking accounts and loans.

“Many of us have been victims of banking discrimination, outrageous processing fees, etc.,” the press release added.

A fair-housing study released this week by the NEO Sustainable Communities Consortium, which includes Mahoning and Trumbull counties, showed that blacks in Mahoning County were denied for home loans 33.9 percent of the time, which was more than double the 14.7 percent denial rate for whites.