HarborOne Credit Union Wins Wegner Award for Outstanding Organization |
National Credit Union Foundation to Present 4 Awards on Feb. 22, 2010 | 
This will be one of four awards presented at the 22nd Annual Wegner Awards Dinner hosted by the National Credit Union Foundation on Feb. 22—Monday night of the Credit Union National Association’s 2010 Governmental Affairs Conference.
For the third straight year, the gala dinner will take place at the spectacular Grand Hyatt Washington.
Online registration will be available by November 16, 2009. |
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National Model |  “Immigrants who settle in Massachusetts are fortunate to have a caring organization like HarborOne Credit Union’s MultiCultural Center,” affirmed NCUF Awards & Recognition Committee Chairman Bob Schumacher, CEO of MountainCrest Credit Union in Arlington, Wash. “The Center has become a national model to deliver the critical human services needed for credit unions to reach new immigrants in order to build trusting financial relationships.”
“We are very proud that the National Credit Union Foundation is looking at our MultiCultural Banking Center as a model,” said HarborOne Credit Union President & CEO James Blake. “The Center works to create educated consumers who recognize the traps and gimmicks used by predatory lenders. This is the first step in ensuring that people never have to face the prospect of losing their homes.” |
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Oasis in a Crisis |  Believed to be the only one of its kind in the US, the MultiCultural Banking Center opened in September 2007 when Brockton was suffering an economic, employment, and housing crisis.
“Waves of immigrants were coming from many diverse areas speaking many different languages,” recalled Normand Grenier, executive director of South Shore Neighborhood Housing Services. “Financial institutions in the heart of the economically hard-hit area faced difficult decisions. The factories were gone – and with them, their former deposit bases. HarborOne Credit Union reinvented itself as a lifeline and a beacon, welcoming the new Americans.” |
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| Matter of Trust | | | “We met with community groups and activists in our marketplace to understand why immigrants and other minorities succumb to unscrupulous lenders,” revealed Leo MacNeil, HarborOne’s senior VP of community relations. “It turned out to be a matter of trust. |
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 Minorities in these communities were taken advantage of by lenders of their own ethnic backgrounds. Even though HarborOne for years had been the number one low-income minority lender and had supported affordable housing efforts with numerous minority organizations, the credit union’s efforts could not overcome the trust that minorities felt toward lenders of their own ethnic backgrounds.” |
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4 Pillars for Success |  So HarborOne built a new brand of trust by opening a gateway for immigrants and other minorities. The credit union refurbished its vacant former headquarters to establish a network of free computer terminals, classrooms, and offices branded as the MultiCultural Banking Center.
The 11,000-square-foot facility was designed to support four pillars for success: |
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- 1) Help residents in critical need of housing assistance due to the foreclosure crisis;
- 2) Provide educational programs to ensure that immigrants and other minorities are able to make informed financial decisions;
- 3) Offer innovative products and services to elevate the level of trust between the credit union and immigrant and minority communities;
- 4) Partner with community-based organizations that provide related services to low-and-moderate income residents.
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| | “HarborOne Credit Union has empowered many non-profits by offering them free space at the MultiCultural Center,” observed Barbora Hazukova, regional manager of Training Resources of America. “This has enabled them to collaborate on projects and increase their outreach effectiveness.” |
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| Beyond a “Traditional Role” | | “The MultiCultural Center has stepped out of the traditional role of a credit union by fostering partnerships throughout our Adult Basic Education and English as a Second Language community,” noted Sheila Sullivan-Jardim, executive director of the Brockton Area Workforce Investment Board. “This partnership enables us to attract families and independent wage earners, who may need additional language skills, to a business environment where they increase their chances of success in the workforce.”
Three of the MultiCultural Center’s four staff members are first-generation immigrants who speak multiple languages. Classes are taught in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.
In addition, Sullivan-Jardim reminded, “The linguistic education of the immigrant population is but the first step toward self-sufficiency. The MultiCultural Center has built upon that foundation by offering instruction in financial literacy, home ownership, and credit awareness – empowering our residents to take charge of their economic health.” |
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Like an “Emergency Room” |  “Our Center works in much the same way as a hospital Emergency Room,” explained MacNeil. “Our receptionist/coordinator performs a triage process on every individual who comes in.”
Whether they need a new job, rental housing, foreclosure prevention, credit coaching, or a loan to take the US Citizenship test, individuals are referred quickly to an organization and/or a class that will help them live the American dream. |
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| Making a Positive Impact | | Brockton Mayor James E. Harrington documented the positive impact that HarborOne Credit Union has made on the city. “As Mayor, I was concerned (before the MultiCultural Center was built) because many local residents had fallen prey to predatory lending practices due to lack of information and lack of trust in the traditional financial system. The Center has assisted over 1,000 individuals’ move into mainstream banking products away from payday lending, expensive check-cashing services, unscrupulous pawnshop owners and rent-to-own vendors.”
“Without the MultiCultural Center, it is likely that the financial crisis would have been much more severe,” remarked Peter Milewski, manager of homeownership and business development for MassHousing. “And it is likely that the financial losses experienced by individuals and the community would have been far greater.” |
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 Since fourth quarter 2007, the Center has opened over $2 million in deposits, saved low-income tax filers over $100,000 in fees, and secured over $20 million in first mortgages. And Brockton’s foreclosure mitigation success rate has improved from less than 5% in 2007 to over 50% in 2009.
“We believe the accomplishments at our MultiCultural Center epitomize the National Credit Union Foundation’s mission of ‘improving financial independence’ through self-help, cooperation, economic empowerment, and volunteerism,” remarked MacNeil. |
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No More “Wrong Decisions” |  But perhaps the story is best told by immigrants who are working to improve their lives. As Maria Leite explained:
“I am a Cape Verdian living in America. Sometimes we receive wrong information from wrong people and make wrong decisions because of it. By taking a class at HarborOne’s MultiCultural Banking Center, I will make better financial choices and improve my life. Please continue the program because it’s helpful for everyone in the community.” |
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| Programs Still Growing | | Helpful programs will be expanded in the coming year. For starters, the Center is in competition for a “Super VITA Site” that will offer financial education as well volunteer income tax assistance in partnership with Self Help Inc.
“The city and the area still have a way to go, but it is gratifying to note the appreciation of these communities for providing these essential services,” concluded Blake. “Education is the great tool to fight financial predators. We want people to realize that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. The more trust we build, the greater the number of referrals we witness to our programs.” |
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About HarborOne Credit Union: | 
With $1.7 billion in assets, HarborOne Credit Union is the largest state-chartered community credit union in New England and one of the top 100 in the country.
HarborOne serves the financial needs of consumer and business banking customers through a network of 15 full-service branches, with offices in Brockton, Abington, Attleboro, Bridgewater, Canton, Easton, Mansfield, Middleboro, Randolph, Raynham, and a mortgage office in Centerville.
HarborOne participates in the National Credit Union Foundation’s REAL Solutions® program through the Massachusetts Credit Union League. |
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| The National Credit Union Foundation invited REAL Solutions program liaisons from credit union leagues to visit HarborOne Credit Union and consider replicating the MultiCultural Center in their states. | |  |
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About the Wegner Awards: |  The Wegner Awards are named in honor of the late Credit Union National Association CEO Herb Wegner, whose tireless dedication, innovative ideas and deeds truly revolutionized the ways that credit unions serve their communities.
The awards that bear Wegner’s name recognize his spirit of “innovative, creative, risk-taking” leadership. |
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 NCUF is funded primarily by investments in the award-winning Community Investment Fund (CIF) and by Supporters led by the Credit Union National Association, CUNA Mutual Group, the Corporate Credit Union Network, Harland Clarke, WesCorp, CO-OP Financial Services, Card Services for Credit Unions, Fidelity National Information Services, and Visa. All NCUF donors provide support that empowers NCUF and state credit union foundations to make a real impact in the credit union community. |
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