GCUA Releases Booklet Featuring Member Stories

The credit union narrative is made of individual member stories woven together with common threads of service, loyalty and integrity. These stories of extraordinary commitment to the well-being of their members are actually considered quite ordinary to credit unions. They don’t often get attention, because to the people who work in credit unions, they aren’t all that special – it’s just what they do.

As a way to better illustrate the credit union story, state trade association Georgia Credit Union Affiliates set out to chronicle actual real-life ways credit unions help people afford life.

As a way to encourage employees to take notice and understand the significance of the unique ways they stand with their members as advisors, supporters and partners, GCUA ran a statewide contest in the fall. Credit union staff members submitted written accounts of some of the ways they’ve helped members afford life. With more than 100 entries from around the state, a grand prize winner was chosen and nine of the stories were included in the member story booklet.

“Credit unions are known for helping people make good financial decisions every day, but there’s more to the relationships credit unions have with members,” said Mike Mercer, President and CEO of GCUA. “These stories are not just examples of employees going above and beyond. They’re examples of motivated and compassionate professionals who live out credit unions’ purpose by helping people afford life in concrete, meaningful ways.”

The stories in the member story booklet came from around the state, including one from HALLCO Community Credit Union based in Gainesville.

Sherry Hutchison, Executive Vice President at HALLCO Community Credit Union, who submitted one of the stories featured in the book, said, “Sometimes there are opportunities that present themselves where we can literally influence someone’s life in a meaningful way…That is the Credit Union difference. Sometimes the whole story is much more important than one number. It’s helping our community - helping our people.”

The seeds for the story collection efforts were sown with the annual “Helping People Afford Life” impact outreach report, which GCUA produces each spring. The report contains detailed survey data from Georgia credit unions regarding services and community outreach activities.

So far, the stories have spawned an ongoing video series and have been featured in International Credit Union Day promotions. GCUA plans to keep collecting and highlighting them as a way to illustrate the credit union difference for consumers.

Click here to view the Helping People Afford Life member story booklet.

About Georgia Credit Union Affiliates Georgia Credit Union Affiliates (GCUA) provides services and support that help Georgia credit unions - with current memberships topping the 2.1 million mark - meet the financial service needs of the state's credit union members. GCUA offers advocacy, educational, operational and marketing support for Georgia's 114 credit unions, with combined total assets of more than $21.5 billion. More information can be found at http://www.asmarterchoice.org/ and on social media at https://www.facebook.com/creditYOUnion, https://twitter.com/HPALGa and https://twitter.com/Gcuagov.