Below, please find one of your American Dream stories, as submitted by Natalie Crosby, of the Los Angeles Firemen’s Credit Union. If you’d like to submit your own story, please do so here, and it will be included on the site.
We are definitely part of the “Saving the American Dream” story – Los Angeles Firemen’s Credit Union was born out of the Great Depression (1935), and when other big banks thought it was too risky to lend to firefighters (our community hometown heroes) and were charging higher rates or denying loans, they became fed up and came together in a cooperative effort to support one another and redefine financial services. Our first office was on the second story of fire station 28 in downtown Los Angeles. We were considered then and are still considered part of the fire family.
New regulations targeting irresponsible lending practices of big banks are unfairly applied to small CUs like ours that were born from honest intention. We clearly separate ourselves from big bank tactics. In 77 years, we are still 27,000 members. We service a very specific demographic and it’s truly unfair and unsettling to think that big banks might threaten such a rich history and legacy like ours.
- Natalie Crosby, Los Angeles Firemen’s Credit Union
