A long-held dream of opening a credit union on the West Side — bringing vital services to a financial desert — was realized on Monday as the Leaders Network, a West Side community organization, launched a joint-venture with Great Lakes Credit Union.
The credit union, called Leaders Network Financial in partnership with Great Lakes Credit Union, is online only for now but has all the same services, from opening deposit accounts to applying for loans.
The outpost has been in the works for years as West Side community leaders recognized a lack of financial services in the Austin community, where 1 in 3 adults don’t have a checking or savings account, according to the Chicago Health Atlas. That’s compared to 1 in 10 in the city overall.
The opening date was chosen because it coincided with the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
“This is the dream of the Leaders Network,” said Michelle Collins, an Austin native and longtime banker who’s been helping oversee the venture, “banking for the greater good.”
The credit union is open to members of the Leaders Network, which people can join for an annual $25 fee online at leadersnetworkchicago.org.
The group hopes to open a physical branch at 5600 W. Madison St. in February after their original location on Chicago Avenue fell through. They’re also considering opening an interim branch on Madison, where members meet in-person with staff, including a HUD-certified counselor on home-buying and a business development manager.
Michael Loria is a staff reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times via Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster the paper’s coverage of communities on the South Side and West Side.
