For Lower Valley Credit Union,blazing a trail with its work with the underserved has meant reallycluing into the lives and needs of most of its members.

“To say that LVCU is sensitive to the realities of our valleywould be an understatement,” said LVCU CEO Suzy Fonseca. “Werespect the realities and help provide sincere solutions. It'sactually very simple: Our member's financial accomplishments areLVCU's financial accomplishments. We are all in this together.”

The $61.3 million, 8,500-member credit union is in Sunnyside,Wash., in the heart of Eastern Washington's agricultural region.More than 88% of LVCU's members qualify as low-income and asignificant number make their living primarily in agriculturalwork, often seasonal or uncertain.

A significant percentage of new members arrive without credithistories and have never had a bank account prior to joining thecredit union, according to Josh Beck, vice president of finance atthe 2014 CU Times Trailblazer honoree for Service to theUnderserved.

“It's a community with some challenges,” Beck said. “A lot ofheart, but some challenges, too, and working to help improve theirfinancial situations means mixing education with action. Workingwith them where they are, we have to almost simultaneously educateour members about how they can better their financial situation andhelp them do it.”

LVCU feels its responsibility so acutely, Beck explained,because of the unique role it serves in its very rural community.Beck acknowledged that there are bank branches in the area, butstressed that many of those banks tend not to see people like thecredit union's members as being very bankable.

LVCU staff starts financial education early.

“It's not that they won't open them an account, they probablywould,” Beck said. “But the products and services they offer arelikely not going to be the ones that people who are members reallyneed or can afford.” He said just having an account at a bank isnot enough to make a person really use the available financialservices an account provides.

Data from various banking industry sources and governmentagencies bear him out. According to BankOn.org, an organizationwhich promotes public/private partnerships to help more consumersestablish bank accounts, almost 18% of Sunnyside's households lackbank accounts, double the national average

Further, of the households that are banked, almost 22% stillrely on higher-cost check cashers, payday lenders and othernon-bank financial services for things they could obtain morecheaply from a financial institution.

This situation is why almost all LVCU members, at some time orother, meet with a credit union representative who can get a betterunderstanding of where they are financially and what they need tostart doing to improve their circumstances.

“For many of our members, that means measures to build a credithistory and start a savings plan,” Beck said, “because many oftheir first needs from us our used auto loans.”

Beck explained that due to the area's predominantly ruralcharacter, having at least one car in a household is essential tohelp members commute to work as well as being able to shop, obtainhealth care or take part in most community or recreational events.That's why a used car loan is the first or one of the first loansthat many LVCU members obtain, including the almost 400 so far whodid so even though they had little to no credit profile over thepast three years.

Next Page: $500 Car Loans

LVCU charges an average 13.2% interest on its used auto loans tomembers with lower credit, a number which it notes is 127% lowerthan the rates charged at many of the area car lots.

The credit union will also make used car loans for as little as$500, helping to make an essential automobile an option for eventhe poorest of area consumers and credit union members.

The credit union noted that there has been little social scienceresearch into the impact used vehicle loans can have, which makesevaluating their importance difficult. But Vehicles for Change, anon-profit organization which collects used cars, rehabilitatesthem and sells them at affordable prices to lower-income consumersreports that 75% of the families which have purchased the carssince 1999 were able to find better jobs and make better incomeafter the purchase. In addition, 75% reported missing fewer daysfrom work and the household's annual earnings increased by anaverage of $7,000 per year.

LVCU has also taken pains to make sure its work withlower-income members is sustainable. According to NCUA data for thethird quarter of 2013, the most recent quarter for which peer datais available, LVCU's return on average assets stood at 0.76%, wellabove the peer average of 0.43%.

The credit union's ratio of charged off loans to assets alsolags its peers, as do loan delinquencies, but at the same timeLVCU's loan growth stood at 7.75% versus 4.24% for its peers.

Beck attributed the low levels of delinquency in its loans tothe credit union's willingness to work with its members as well asthe gratitude and regard the members have for the credit union. Onereason members will strive not to be late with payments on loans isbecause they don't want anyone among their families and friends,also credit union members, to know that they aren't paying theircredit union bills, Beck explained.

In the end, LVCU's willingness to strive and grow alongside itsmembers is what makes the organization stand out among thefinancial service providers in the area, Beck said. “We will listenand try to help when so many others will not,” he said, rememberingone memorable loan LVCU made to help a member cover the costs ofadopting a child. “Nobody else was going to help her with this,” henoted. “But we would and did.”