Faith-based credit unions offer an alternative to big banks, payday loans
“The purpose of a bank is to make money for the investors,” said a Catholic credit union leader. “The purpose of a credit union is to serve the membership.”
When Milwaukee’s Greater Galilee Missionary Baptist Church started a credit union in 1965, its predominantly African American members were often denied loans, lines of credit, and other basic financial services from banks.
More than 50 years later, in what is still one of the most racially segregated cities in the country, “not much has changed,” said Gloria Neff, a credit union board member and small-business owner. “We’re still having the same problems.”
Greater Galilee’s members, many of whom are elderly, still struggle to secure loans—even if they have the means to repay them.
