About B.O.N.D. Community FCU
About Us
Is B.O.N.D. Community FCU Secure?
Mission Statement
Our History
About Us
B.O.N.D. Community Federal Credit Union is a non-profit financial cooperative, owned and operated by its members. This is what distinguishes the Credit Union from other financial institutions. Members put their money into a variety of share/savings accounts, and that money, in turn, is lent to members. After operating expenses and reserve requirements are met, loan income is returned to all members in the form of dividends and comprehensive financial services.
B.O.N.D. Community FCU is governed by a Board of Directors that establishes and reviews policy. The Directors are Credit Union members who are elected by the Membership and serve without pay. At the Credit Union, there is no select group of shareholders that profits more than anyone else. Every member has one vote, regardless of how much he or she has on deposit and All Members profit -- individually and collectively.
Is B.O.N.D. Community FCU Secure?
Yes, you'll have the peace of mind of knowing that your Share/Savings funds are insured up to $100,000 and IRA funds are insured up to $250,000 by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), administered by the National Credit Union Administration. NCUA is an agency of the federal government, which insures deposits of credit union members at more than 11,000 federal and state-chartered credit unions nationwide with savings totaling over 500 billion dollars.
Mission Statement:
B.O.N.D. Community Federal Credit Union's mission is to meet the financial needs of its community by offering a broad range of competitive financial products, by offering personalized customer service and by offering educational training that enhances the financial well-being of members and the community.
Our History
B.O.N.D. Community FCU was organized with a Federal charter on April 11th, 1972. It was the first community-based credit union chartered in Georgia’s history.
The political and economic environment of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s played a key role in the formation of this Credit Union and the changes in our field of membership since organization.
Little 5 Points, the business district in which we are still located today, had fallen into decay and the neighborhoods surrounding it had also declined. The entire area had a reputation of violence and heavy drug traffic.
There was a large anti-war effort at the time, and those who chose to avoid participating in the Vietnam conflict volunteered their time and talent in projects closer to home. One of these efforts was the VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program. Volunteers in this program became very involved in this in-town area of Atlanta, having identified it as a neighborhood in desperate need.
A few miles away, downtown Atlanta was growing and expanding, forcing Atlanta’s hippie community to seek new places to live. Many in this community either voluntarily or involuntarily moved into the Little 5 Points area, and found a home in this predominately white, absentee landlord-owned urban area.
At that time, the white migration to the suburbs left the city and state governments looking to build more roads to connect downtown to more distant areas and the B.O.N.D. Community was a key target for one of the largest roads planned at the time. Such a road would have split the neighborhood in two sections! The neighbors reacted by organizing protests. In one instance a neighborhood resident, still a B.O.N.D. Community FCU member today, chained herself to the Freedom Parkway Overpass to express the community’s outrage.
During this time, the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), a religious group with funds dedicated to assisting impoverished individuals help themselves, and John Sweet, who was participating in the VISTA program as a local lawyer and conscientious objector of the road project, entered the picture.
Also, at this time, the Bass Organization for Neighborhood Development (B.O.N.D.) was organized to help five in-town neighborhoods take back their community. These neighborhoods were Little 5 Points, Inman Park (Atlanta’s first suburb built after the Civil War, with some of Georgia’s most beautiful Victorian and Antebellum-style mansions), Poncey-Highlands, Candler Park, and Lake Claire. The latter three were considered to be low income communities, although they consisted mainly of single family dwellings.
Both the MCC and B.O.N.D. came into the neighborhood, as John Sweet says, “to better the plight of the residents”.
The community believed that only through property ownership would the average individual wield any power. Only through buying homes, residing in them and fighting for them could the people be empowered and the road construction stopped. Everyone should have been given the opportunity to own a home, but due to “Red Lining” there was no such opportunity for the residents of this area.
Financial institutions located in and around these neighborhoods would gladly take deposits, but would not reinvest back into the community. Along with other programs needed and being developed, a financial institution was necessary to follow the philosophy of the local people, to reinvest back into the community, and to provide services and financial counseling to improve “the plight of the residents.”
After a long two-year struggle with the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), who was reluctant to charter a credit union with the expressed intent to provide real estate lending, John Sweet was able to charter B.O.N.D. Community Federal Credit Union. The MCC provided initial funding of $2,500 to start-up the credit union on a shoestring budget.
The MCC, being known for its strict monetary discipline and conservative manner, had conflicting views as to how deposits should be raised. The people for whom the credit union was established to serve were poor, and if they were going to save at B.O.N.D Community FCU, it had to be to their best advantage. The Board of Directors, made of primarily MCC members, debated this issue at great length. Once the issues were resolved, the credit union was firmly in the hands of community residents.
Dividends were declared at a full quarter percent over the closest competitors, and deposits began to grow. By the fourth quarter of the first year of operation, there were not enough funds in reserves to pay dividends. This was the point where the credit union proved itself to the community!
The board devised a plan for increasing reserves in order to pay the dividends as they had been declared. They would take the available funds in reserves, borrow a resident’s large moving van, and pick peaches on a farm south of Atlanta. The plan was to bring these peaches back to Atlanta and by selling them on the street, raise the $210 needed to pay dividends.
Every board member selflessly participated in this event. At 5:00 am they drove in the van to the Atlanta Farmer’s Market, where they purchased as many bushel baskets as they could afford: 65. They then drove to South Georgia and by mid-day they had filled all of the baskets with peaches donated by a good friend of John Sweet’s. The rest of the day was spent selling the peaches in the streets of Atlanta for $4 per bushel (one-half the market rate). By days’ end, they had raised enough money to pay the declared dividends, thus ensuring the continued growth of the credit union.
The debates with NCUA continued over our lending policies. By mid-1973 we had lent out $1500, of our 15,000 in deposits, for a long-term loan to help a member buy a home. To quote John Sweet, “NCUA had a fit! They wanted us to make loans for color TVs and we needed to be making home loans. Poor people didn’t need color TVs, they needed homes.”
At one point, NCUA threatened to close our doors. Negotiations were held, agreements made, and proposals were drawn up to modify our loan policy. By this time, the credit union had doubled in assets.
B.O.N.D. Community FCU requested and received low-income status. Once we were able to accept non-member deposits, the “Blue Ribbon Committee” was formed. This committee was formed from any Board member who had a suit and tie to solicit stronger credit unions for large and long-term deposits. This would allow B.O.N.D. Community FCU to offer even larger and longer-term mortgage loans. The campaign was a success!
By the end of 1974 we had deposits of $101,390 and had booked 162 loans totaling over $165,000, most of which were real estate. We were experiencing great capital growth and low loan loss. This trend caused NCUA some concern. They felt that we were not charging off enough loans and our delinquency rate was too small. This is still a trend today at B.O.N.D. Community FCU and continues to cause NCUA concern even after so many years. NCUA once again tried to convince the Board to take greater credit risks. The Board once again reminded NCUA that our primary purpose was and is to make real estate loans.
Ran initially out of a neighbor's kitchen, B.O.N.D. Community FCU soon took a space in Little Five Points. Over the years, our field of membership has expanded. The first of these expansions was when membership was opened to people who worked in the businesses located within our boundaries. These people felt the same sense of community as people who lived in the neighborhood and felt they should not be denied credit union membership. This change significantly expanded the neighborhood’s use of the credit union. Our average share deposit grew 55% over the next three years.
In more recent years we have added new neighborhoods to our original group including Cabbagetown, Edgewood, East Atlanta, East Lake, Grant Park-S.A.N.D. Fourth Ward, Kirkwood and Reynoldstown. Each of these additional neighborhoods are unique, yet they all have one thing in common: They are transitional and have no or little representation by a community-involved financial institution. These neighborhoods are going through what we faced so many years ago, and with our resources and experience, their growth and success can be assured.
Today B.O.N.D. Community FCU serves over 5,000 members, and as of December 2006, assets exceeded $35 million dollars. B.O.N.D. Community FCU has loaned over $120 million dollars to residents who have renovated hundreds of in-town homes.
The size of the credit union may be greater but the atmosphere hasn't changed much from 1972. Rocking chairs, church pews and teller stations with chairs to sit in while conducting your business make everyone who visits feel relaxed and welcome. Friends greet & hug, and get caught up on the latest neighborhood news in the lobby just like they did in that kitchen all those years ago.
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