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TUFCU Opens New Building with Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
By Fletcher Word
Sojourner’s Truth Editor
“This has been a long
journey, but it has been a vision,” said Toledo Mayor Paula
Hicks-Hudson at the start of the ribbon-cutting ceremony
that was largely dedicated to the 20-year effort of TUFCU
CEO Suzette Cowell to make the credit union a viable
economic force in the central city area.
The most recent
fulfillment of that vision was the grand opening on Sunday
of TUFCU’s new facility at the corner of Detroit and Dorr –
a 4,200 square-foot building that offers credit union
members three times the space of the old building in which
to conduct their financial transactions. The new building
also provides drive-through service and an ATM.
Sunday’s ribbon-cutting
ceremony commenced at the New Life COGIC where Bishop Edward
Cook, pastor of New Life and one of the founding fathers of
TUFCU, served as the master of ceremonies.
“This is the beginning of
a new day,” said Cook as he opened the event.
Bishop Duane Tisdale,
pastor of Friendship Baptist Church and the man who
conceived the idea of the community credit union several
decades ago, spoke of the importance of community control of
finances and noted that “no group of people can exist if
they cannot move the economy amongst them.”
Several years ago, Sister
Pam Buganski of the Sisters of Notre Dame, approached Cowell
to see if she could be of any assistance to the credit
union. That meeting ultimately led to an introduction to
Dick LaValley, who would lead the effort to put together the
funding for the new building.
Buganski spoke at Sunday’s
ceremony. “Blessed is she who believed that God’s word to
her, will be delivered,” she said of Cowell’s faith in the
success of TUFCU. “She has penetrated the depths of my heart
with her faith,” Sister Pam continued.
Sister Pam also spoke
movingly of her interactions with the credit union and its
staff and members. “It is always a place of respect; it is
always a place of dignity,” she said. “People are given hope
there. It is now on us to carry that same spirit of respect
and hope and dignity to a new building. May it continue to
be a blessed place. Miracles happen there and they will
continue to happen there.”
LaValley touched on the
same theme when given his moment to address the audience at
New Vision. The man who arranged for the funding praised
Cowell and her staff for “all the wonderful lives you are
changing. I will always be here to do whatever I can to help
you.”
Also speaking during the
ceremony were Lucas County Commissioners Pete Gerken and
Tina Skeldon Wozniak who provided a huge chunk of financing
for the new structure. Gerken spoke of the tragedy of the
way mainstream corporate entities, particularly financial
institutions, had neglected the African-American community
over the decades.
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