Metro CU ‘CONNECTS’ with the community

Partnership creates financial stability for local residents.

Saritin Rizzuto, Metro CU’s vice president, emerging populations and community engagement (at left), discusses the importance of giving back with interns.

Metro Credit Union, Chelsea, Mass., is part of a community partnership that provides its neighbors with resources and life skills to advance financial security.

Since 2012, Metro has been a partner in CONNECT, a nonprofit financial opportunity center offering education, housing, and career support.

Charlene Bauer, Metro’s chief development officer and senior vice president for outreach and advocacy, explains that “if individuals have the necessary skills to advance their job, create stable housing, and have access to sound financial management, they are going to be more successful.”

With resources located in one place and a shared data base, “whatever that person comes in for, whether it’s help with taxes, heating assistance, poor credit, unemployment, we help them with that service and then engage them with other partners.” CONNECT serves about 4,000 people each year.

 

continue reading »