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BY PRISCILLA GREEAR
Staff Writer
ATLANTA--With over 1,000 members in the Atlanta Archdiocese, the
Greater Atlanta Catholic Federal Credit Union hopes other Catholic
groups will choose to take advantage of its services.
The federally-regulated credit union, the only Catholic one in
Georgia, is open to employees, registered parishioners, students and
their families from six Catholic schools, nine Catholic churches and
one Catholic lay organization which comprise its current membership
base. GACFCU members include a growing number of Hispanics. However,
the credit union would like to see more Catholic entities become
members.
“Our goal is we would like to have all the Catholic churches in
the metro area and their employees (join),” said Judy Love,
GACFCU manager.
For churches or Catholic schools to become members, pastors or
school principals need to write to GACFCU. There is no financial
obligation, according to Carolyn Gresh, GACFCU marketing coordinator.
Individuals who join through their member organization pay a
one-time $5 membership fee and make a $50 minimum deposit to open a
savings account.
Current parish members are the Cathedral of Christ the King in
Atlanta; Church of the Holy Cross in Atlanta; Holy Trinity Church in
Peachtree City; Immaculate Heart of Mary Church (IHM) in Atlanta;
Sacred Heart Church in Atlanta; Church of St. Jude the Apostle in
Atlanta; St. Patrick’s Church in Norcross; St. Thomas the Apostle
Church in Smyrna and Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Decatur.
Participating schools are Christ the King, IHM, Our Lady of Lourdes,
St. Anthony’s and St. Jude, all in Atlanta, and Sts. Peter and
Paul in Decatur. The St. Vincent de Paul Society is the lay
organization which is a member.
Members can apply for Visa cards, currently with a fixed interest
rate of 9.96 percent, and car, signature, home equity, mortgage,
shared secure and parochial loans. The credit union also offers
certificates of deposits and individual retirement accounts. It has a
$2.5 million asset size and profits remain within the Catholic
community for lending to other members. Ten percent of the income
GACFCU receives from its Visa card program goes to the St. Vincent de
Paul Society.
Parishioners at IHM and then-pastor Msgr. Michael Regan established
the nonprofit organization in 1971 to aid a small number of parish
members suffering financial hardship during an economic recession.
Owned and operated by its members, the GACFCU has a staff of three and
a board of directors, which includes Lockheed Credit Union CEO Ed
Collins. The board meets monthly to oversee financial and management
operations.
To market its services, GACFCU holds membership drives and other
meetings with member groups. It has a quarterly newsletter and lists
its financial rates in the Atlanta Business Chronicle and the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Credit unions offer lower interest rates on loans and higher
dividends on saving accounts than profit-driven banks, according to
Love. GACFCU, while it is run like all credit unions, maintains its
founding spirit of service and, at times, offers loans to people who
can’t get them elsewhere because of circumstances such as
temporary unemployment.
“It’s very much a family-spirited, community-oriented
business,” Love said. “You save money and it’s lent to
your neighbor down the street who you go to church with.”
A larger membership will allow GACFCU to increase its services to
include expanded office hours and checking accounts for members.
Members should be able to open checking accounts in 1999, according to
Gresh.
When receiving loans, “credit unions will almost always be a
better financial option (than banks) for most people,” Gresh
said. “Our difference is being a smaller credit union...We offer
personal service.”
GACFCU has outgrown its original location on the grounds of IHM and
will move in December to larger office space at 2250 N. Druid Hills
Road.
The credit union is open Monday-Friday from 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and is
currently located at 2855 Briarcliff Road. For information call (404)
321-4459. |
