It’s that time of year: our Ukrainian credit unions, or “kredytivky,” in the United States are holding their annual meetings to report back to the members and communities they serve and to elect board members. Perhaps you’ve noticed some of those meetings advertised in your area, or you’ve received an announcement because you are a credit union member. We encourage readers to attend to learn more about these institutions.
Our kredytivky are united in the Ukrainian National Credit Union Association (UNCUA), which notes on its website: “The Ukrainian-American Credit Union Movement in the United States exceeds 100,000 family memberships primarily concentrated in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. Our asset base has surpassed $3.1 billion. We are part of the United States Credit Union Movement, which encompasses over 75 million members and over $400 billion in assets.”
The Ukrainian National Credit Union Association (UNCUA) held its most recent annual meeting in June of 2018, with 30 participants representing 12 Ukrainian American credit unions; the 38th annual meeting and spring conference of the UNCUA are coming up later this spring in Washington. (By the way, you can see the full list of Ukrainian credit unions, including all their branches, on the annual calendar released by the association; last year 28,000 such calendars were distributed across the U.S.)
Self Reliance New York Federal Credit Union held its 68th annual meeting on March 17 with 263 registered members participating, along with representatives of many community groups and institutions that benefit from Self Reliance’s renowned largesse. The kredytivka reported that it ended 2018 with assets of nearly $1.33 billion (an increase of over $2.1 million since the previous year) and with a membership of 15,272 as of December 31, 2018. During 2018 this credit union, which has branches in Manhattan and Queens, on Long Island and in upstate New York, supported youth, cultural, religious, educational and charitable organizations to the tune of $1.1 million in donations. (There’ll be more information on that annual meeting in next week’s issue of The Weekly.)
Meanwhile, Selfreliance Federal Credit Union, previously known as Selfreliance Ukrainian American Federal Credit Union, is holding its annual meeting on March 31 at its home office in Chicago with a simulcast in Whippany, N.J., where one of its branches is located at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey. Its annual report indicates that it has assets of over $589 million and more than 24,000 members in the states of Illinois, New Jersey and Michigan (the merger between the Chicago-based Selfreliance and the Ukrainian Future Credit Union in Michigan took place in 2018). This kredytivka prides itself on the fact that its Selfreliance Foundation distributes over $550,000 annually to charitable community organizations. In fact, 105 such donations were made last year to various groups.
The foregoing was meant to provide a quick look at just two of our Ukrainian credit unions, which happen to be the largest among those encompassed by the UNCUA. But there are 10 other active credit unions that do their share to not only provide excellent financial services to their members but also to support the community organizations and endeavors that their members value. (Full disclosure: This newspaper, too, has been lucky to have the generous support of our kredytivky – most significantly from Self Reliance New York.) In addition to the states already mentioned, there are Ukrainian credit union offices in Maryland, Connecticut, Ohio, Massachusetts, California, Oregon and Washington. They are truly an important foundation of our Ukrainian community life that should be supported by all of us with our membership.