SACRAMENTO, Calif.–The Golden 1 Credit Union said it has committed to invest $10 million into the Del Paso Heights area over five years to assist the underserved neighborhood.
The $20.5-billion credit union said it also plans to open a branch and financial resource center in a neighborhood that has “long been neglected for development and has a predominantly minority population.”
According to Golden 1, it has been working for years with a committee of advisers from the community to assess what the neighborhood needs to have to end its economic isolation, a spokesperson told the Sacramento Business Journal.
To begin, the credit union said it is donating funds to organizations that are already embedded in the community, including the Greater Sacramento Urban League, Neighborhood Wellness Foundation, Mutual Assistance Network and the Roberts Family Development Center.
The new Golden 1 branch will go inside the building of the Greater Sacramento Urban League. It should open by the end of the year, the report said.
The grant money will be used for programs to support economic development, financial education and coaching, physical and mental health services and education.
‘More Inclusive California’
“Golden 1 is committed to creating a more equitable and financially inclusive California and, through this targeted investment, we want to help break the cycles of multigenerational poverty and trauma,” said Golden 1 CEO Donna Bland, in a news release.
The Business Journal further quoted Bland as saying the credit union was researching a lack of access to education, health care and financial institutions in neighborhoods through the state, and it chose to start with Del Paso Heights "to close racial equity gaps locally, focusing on a neighborhood that has been underserved for decades."
Among the Lowest in the City
Golden 1 said educational attainment, median household income, and homeownership rates in the neighborhood are among the lowest in the city, while the crime rate is among the highest, the report stated.
The Business Journal noted the Del Paso Heights community, which is a series of neighborhoods south of Interstate 80 at the Marysville Boulevard exit, has at its center Grant Union High School. It is historically a Black neighborhood.
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