Cleveland Area Leader, Visionary Rita Haynes
to Receive National Award

Life-long dedication to assisting underserved
to be celebrated in D.C.

Rita Haynes, CEO of Faith Community United Credit Union, receives the Credit Union Movement's highest honor for her 25 years of service to Cuyahoga County's underserved residents.

Dublin, Ohio (August 7, 2008) – Rita Haynes, CEO of Faith Community United Credit Union in Cleveland, will receive the prestigious 2009 Herb Wegner Memorial Award for Individual Achievement for her service to the underserved residents of Cuyahoga County.  Haynes, who has worked for the Cleveland credit union for more than 50 years, including the last 23 as CEO, has empowered thousands of individuals and families to improve their financial well-being through self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, and equity.  The Herb Wegner Memorial Award is the highest honor in the U.S. Credit Union Movement.  It will be presented at a dinner before 3,000 of her peers in Washington, D.C., in February.

Almost 30 percent of Faith Community United Credit Union members have incomes below the federal poverty line.  Yet, through revolutionary loan services like the Grace Loan Program, the Amazing Grace Line of Credit, the Greater Grace Program, and the Wheels Program, members are finding affordable and accessible funding sources for short-term lending, debt consolidation, and mortgage and auto lending.  Haynes’ philosophy is based on helping those who are disregarded by other financial institutions.

“I feel truly blessed to have this honor bestowed upon me.  I have to give credit to my board and staff members over the years, whose hard work and dedication to our members inspire me every day,” said Haynes.

“Rita is a hero to her community and especially the members of her credit union. She has changed lives, and is truly deserving of this award,” said Paul Mercer, President of the Ohio Credit Union League.  “I have been lucky enough to work with Rita for 15 years and have witnessed first-hand what her dedication to the community has accomplished and how she has inspired her fellow credit union leaders throughout Ohio and the nation.”

Haynes is often looked to as a state and national leader among the Credit Union Movement.  She testified before the U.S. House Domestic Policy Subcommittee – Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on Foreclosure, Predatory Mortgage and Payday lending in America’s Cities and the Ohio House of Representatives in support of the Credit Union Member Service Powers Act.  She serves on the Ohio Credit Union Foundation's Board of Trustees and has also served in various leadership capacities for the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions.

Locally, Haynes has consistently partnered with community development, charitable, and philanthropic organizations throughout Cuyahoga County. Haynes has been instrumental in the success of the Cleveland Saves program, which promotes wealth-creation and asset-building for area residents, and partners with WECO Funds, Inc. to build assets for families and neighborhoods through education, collaboration and opportunity.  She has served 10 years as a trustee of the Ohio Credit Union Foundation.  She also served as Chair of the Inner City Association of Minority Credit Unions, an economic development group comprised of 28 area church credit unions.

Faith Community United Credit Union has extended its roots throughout the county in the most recent decade.  Over the past 10 years, the credit union has increased its membership from 2,589 to 6,300, and built its assets from $4.7 million to $10.1 million.

The Wegner awards are named in honor of the late Credit Union National Association CEO, Herb Wegner, whose tireless dedication, innovative ideas and deeds truly revolutionized the way that credit unions serve their communities. The awards that bear Wegner’s name honor his legacy and recognize his spirit of “innovative, creative, risk-taking” leadership.

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The Ohio Credit Union Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Ohio Credit Union System, supports educational and outreach initiatives that promote financial independence through credit unions. Credit unions are not-for-profit financial institutions owned and democratically controlled by their members. Ohio credit unions provide savings, loans, and other consumer financial services to their 2.6 million members. To learn more, visit www.OhioCreditUnions.org. For more information about this article, contact Ohio Credit Union League Director of Media Relations Patrick Harris at (800) 486-2917.