Recently, the Buffalo Co-operative FCU (BCFCU) expanded its community development activities by partnering with the Massachusetts Avenue Project (MAP) to initiate a program to help local youth acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to participate in the world of financial services. At a meeting of representatives from the BCFCU and MAP, youth enrolled in MAP's Growing Green, and youth enterprise programs were introduced to the credit union movement.
Many of these youth are unfamiliar with the financial services industry and rely on check cashing businesses or the corner store to cash the payroll checks they receive from their employment in Growing Green. The fees charged by these businesses reduce the modest amounts of money earned by these youth. Kelly Maurer, a BCFCU board member, pointed out that the BCFCU does not charge fees to its members for cashing checks. She explained further that the impersonal nature of bank services may not provide adequate opportunities for them to learn about financial services and the unregulated nature of the check cashing operations run by corner stores leaves room for exploitation. Kelly further pointed out that credit unions, as member-controlled financial co-operatives, have member service and member education as their most important priorities.
Some of the youth have already opened credit union savings accounts. Each transaction will become an opportunity to for them to learn to handle finances wisely. Future activities include discussions about budgeting, maintaining a checking account, and prudent uses of credit.
