MADISON, Wis.–Filene has released a new report based on work and innovation already taking place in New Mexico around providing financial services to victims of domestic violence with a goal of creating a scalable financial model that can be easily developed and adopted by credit unions, services providers, and healthcare partners in communities across the country.
The initiative is discussed in a new report, “An Economic Path to Safety: Credit Union Model of Support,” released by Filene.
The report examines how financial health and stability contribute to the overall health and well-being of individuals and families and offers one credit union/CUSO’s experience as an example.
“The economic impact of financial abuse is multipronged,” wrote Robin Brule, senior director-philanthropic partnerships, in releasing the report. “Individuals experiencing economic abuse lose a total of 8 million days of paid work each year – the equivalent of 32,000 full-time jobs. The lack of paid sick days or other job protections prevents survivors from taking time off work to recover from injury, seek safety, or pursue a court case. Further, survivors lose nearly $53,000 in lost wages over their lifetime, and the estimated overall workplace productivity costs are $1.3 trillion.”
CU SAFE Program Highlighted
The report highlights the Credit Union Survivor Alliance for Financial Empowerment (CU SAFE) program and service began operating at the end of August 2020 as a partnership with the CUSol CUSO in Albuquerque. The program is designed to pair survivors who are referred from a domestic violence center with a financial institution to provide survivors with access to necessary capital.
Through CU SAFE, U.S. Eagle Federal Credit Union was successfully paired up with Domestic Violence Resource Center in Albuquerque, the report explains, quoting USEFCU President/CEO Marsha Majors as saying, “The first step to solving an issue as complicated as domestic violence is to offer tangible support. This offering is focused on getting funds into the hands of people who need it most knowing full well that a small, affordable loan might save someone’s life.”
The report notes U.S. Eagle has now offered three loans through the CU SAFE program and provided other support.
“To ensure domestic violence survivors do not have to rely on predatory lenders, U.S. Eagle offers access to their financial resources at no interest rate for the first twelve months,” according to the report.
‘Support That Stands Out’
“The support that stands out the most is that U.S. Eagle ensures they offer loans with a low interest rate,” stated Brule. “This is especially important in the State of New Mexico where there is no cap on interest rates except for one: a cap of 175% on consumer loans of $5,000. To ensure domestic violence survivors do not have to rely on predatory lenders, U.S. Eagle offers access to their financial resources at no interest rate for the first twelve months and allows a 9.9% interest rate after they have been able to transition to their new lives.”
The Santa Fe-based Con Alma Health Foundation has also joined the partnership as a funder.
Filene said it is working with the New Mexico collaborative to expand the program, and create new, affordable financial products that can be scaled for credit unions across the U.S.
Filene further stated it is engaging domestic violence survivors, service agencies and credit unions to help identify, develop, and offer financial services that are most needed by domestic violence survivors when meeting their most critical financial service needs.
“Throughout 2022, this collaboration will build upon and strengthen the important work and innovation already taking place in New Mexico and from research Filene has pulled together around domestic violence financial services,” Filene stated.
The Overarching Goals
According to Filene, the overarching goals will be to:
- Create a scalable financial model that can be easily developed and adopted by credit unions, services providers, and healthcare partners in communities across the country.
- Leverage credit unions’ ability to support populations that have historically been overlooked or marginalized by traditional financial institutions.
- Help survivors of domestic violence gain the financial tools they need to build lives of independence and economic security.
For info: www.filene.org.
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