Community First Fund Credit Union is providing a pathway to financial peace

With a grand ribbon cutting in June of this year, Community First Fund officially opened the doors to its first Credit Union on the corner of Duke and Vine Street.

“We’ve been serving Lancaster for 30 years by providing access to credit to entrepreneurs who want to make a positive change in the community,” said Daniel Betancourt (pictured left), President and CEO of Community First Fund. “With the credit union, our mission is to provide a pathway to financial stability for families. We’re excited to expand our service in the community and celebrate this milestone.”

The mission behind Community First Fund Credit Union is to create financial equity and economic mobility for individuals and families. Twenty-seven percent of U.S. households don’t have bank accounts or are using alternative financial services, and that number is nearly fifty percent among the African American population and forty-six percent in Latino households.

As a continuation of Community First Fund’s commercial lending legacy in the Lancaster area, the Credit Union is an additional resource aimed at helping to foster financial equity and economic prosperity while providing financial literacy education for the community.

“That’s why we are in this neighborhood,” said Marilyn Brown (pictured right), Board Chair of the Credit Union. “Because the best thing is to be among the communities we need to serve.”

Joiner Olivier, Branch Manager of the Community First Fund Credit Union, came onboard because of his desire to help the community with financial services as well as education paired with those services.

“In this community, many people have not had access to financial education. We are trying to teach the importance of banking—what credit is, how you manage it, why it’s important, and why a savings account is important.” he said. “We’re offering our members the tools to understand their current financial situation and help guide them towards achieving financial success, however they define it.”

In addition to personal and business checking and savings accounts, the credit union also offers personal and auto loans, money market accounts, and share term certificates with terms meant to be fair and transparent, and all advertising and account information is printed in both Spanish and English.

Find them at 51 South Duke Street.