Opportunities Credit Union Background and History
Background:
Founded in 1989, Opportunities Credit Union is Vermont’s only community development credit union. Uniquely committed to Vermonters of low wealth, Opportunities’ mission is to build wealth, community, and opportunity through a fair and affordable financial system. Our primary market is Vermont’s 90,000 low-income households throughout the state. Member incomes average 30% below Vermont average incomes and 72% of our members have less than $25 in savings. Most members have been refused financial services by mainstream institutions. Our members are more likely to be solicited and use predatory products and services at very high cost, and they are the least likely to understand the choices available to them. They are also the first and hardest hit by rapid declines in the economy including the rising cost of transportation, home heating, food, and other basic necessities, and they are the slowest to recover when the economy turns around.
In response to these compelling challenges, Opportunities offers affordable financial services and financial education to low- to moderate-income Vermonters, including single parent households, immigrant and refugee populations, the Vermont National Guard as they face deployment, Vermonters with disabilities, and Vermonters moving off public assistance. Since our beginning, over 19,500 individuals and families whose incomes average 80% or less of median have used our services. Our motto “we don’t say no, we say when” indicates our willingness to work with any motivated individual to become bankable, but our success is dependent upon our counseling services coupled with our niche products designed to help members rebuild their credit.
Within our target population of low- to moderate-income Vermonters, we serve a continuous stream of immigrant and refugee populations resettling in Vermont under the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program. These new Vermonters need specific services to become financially self sufficient in very short windows of time. This includes products and services to build savings and establish asset building habits for these new un-banked Americans. We work in partnership with other non-profit and public agencies, including Casey Family Services, The Association of Africans Living in Vermont, Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, Sara Holbrook, and the King Street Youth Center. We also have staff who are able to speak French, Bosnian, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic which allows allow us to facilitate communications with these new Vermonters.
Opportunities continues to design, refine and implement new asset-building savings and loan products to provide families the tools they need to succeed. Consistent with the Casey Foundation strategies in the Rural Family Economic Success framework.
