Dear Manager and Board of Directors:
Enclosed is the program and activity report for low-income designated and small credit unions for the calendar year 2001. The NCUA regional offices and the Office of Credit Union Development (OCUD) work together to foster the agency’s credit union initiatives relating to low-income designated and small credit unions.
I announced the Access Across America initiative on February 25, 2002, which incorporates the agency’s activities of low-income designated and small credit unions as well as federal credit unions expanding into underserved areas. This initiative focuses on creating economic empowerment through credit union access into neighborhoods and communities lacking access to low-cost financial services. It enhances existing NCUA initiatives to bring credit union service to these underserved communities - a program which resulted in over 16.1 million Americans living in communities defined by law as underserved in 2001. The program is designed to partner with federal government agencies and other organizations to identify and facilitate use of resources available for credit unions to assist in their efforts to serve individuals in underserved areas.
I encourage your participation in the programs described above and in the attached report.
Sincerely,
/S/
Dennis Dollar
Chairman