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Toledo Urban
Federal Credit Union: A Cornerstone of the Community
By Inclusiv
In 1992, local incidences
of violence in Toledo, Ohio brought faith leaders and city
government together for healing. The Toledo Urban Federal
Credit Union emerged as one example of a solution to change
the community. Its success caught everyone by surprise—the
line was blocks-long in the first weeks and the credit union
was, at one time, the fastest growing in the United States.
Toledo Urban serves the
oldest community in Toledo, Ohio, where the members were
predominately Black and either walked in or came by bike. It
is literally and figuratively a cornerstone of the
community. The corner building sits at the intersection of
Detroit and Dorr and is easily accessible to people from
downtown, the nearby University of Toledo, and major
highways that cut through the city. “The community sees us
as the hub,” Suzette Cowell, the CEO, said. “Whenever there
are any issues in the area, families will end up at the
credit union. They’re not always looking for loans but will
ask us for guidance.”
During the COVID-19
pandemic, Toledo Urban did not close its doors. They
remained open and worked with the local Small Business
Development Center and the city’s Chamber of Commerce. From
funds provided by Inclusiv and other organizations, they
helped members who could not make loan payments because
their livelihoods or circumstances were affected by the
pandemic. As well, they guided members to access resources
to get help.
“When the first stimulus
checks were sent, the community was unaware of what to do.
They did not trust the money—that it was theirs, to keep.
The members who deposited the checks in the credit union
caused us to grow in only a matter of months. Then, the
second stimulus checks were mailed and cashed, and you saw
that the money from the first check was also being spent.
But people still had the same issues with buying groceries,
medicine, paying mortgage and rent.” However, due to Toledo
Urban’s services, its members were able to best maximize
their money and navigate either their personal or
professional lives during the pandemic.
Alethea Easterly, a Black
small-business owner, has received continued assistance from
Toledo Urban over the last twenty years. She called both the
credit union and its staff a “godsend” and her “backbone”
through their work with her over her struggles with
financial hardship.
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Alethea Easterly and friend
Suzette Cowell |
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“I’m right down the street
from them, and I know the door’s always open,” she said.
“The credit union helped me out with my back taxes. Now I’m
free from back taxes, and that is such a relief, such a
blessing.” During the pandemic, Easterly has received loans
that kept her business up and running.
Cowell noted that, when
she first started, she was told by a long-time community
resident that “when the community takes you in and believes
that you belong to them, that’s when you’ll see a
difference.” That has been what Toledo Urban does: It
provides inclusive services, is active in the community, and
gives people hope. There is hope that when someone arrives,
the doors will be open; hope that when someone asks for
help, help will be given. Cowell believes that if more
communities had institutions that were willing to help, “our
society would be a lot different.”
The buy-in from Toledo
residents, including the construction of the new building,
doubled Toledo Urban’s membership. The continuation of the
credit union’s important work—providing an array of
financial services, being active and conducting financial
education seminars and workshops—has changed the dynamics of
the community.
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