Self-Help Federal Credit Union had a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by the Riverbank Chamber of Commerce and the Central Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on Friday, Aug. 25. There were several community members on hand to celebrate this event along with Mayor Richard O’Brien and Dana Ferreira from Congressman Jeff Denham’s office. O’Brien and Ferreira presented Branch Manager Jose Sabala with a special certificate of recognition.

The credit union joined the Riverbank Chamber which was cause for celebration and Chamber President Anthony McKinney presented Sabala with a plaque to solidify the membership. Hispanic Chamber Vice President, Victor Randolph offered a few kind words regarding the business and the branch manager.

According to Sabala, the bank joined the Chamber to establish a stronger relationship with the Riverbank community. He stated that through a series of mergers, acquisitions, and new branch launches, in both California and Illinois, they are building a community development credit union that aims to provide high-impact financial services to working-class communities. Self-Help Federal now has over 30 branches, $950 million in assets, and serves over 80,000 people.

Some of the services that Self-Help offers, Sabala explained, are savings accounts, transparently-priced checking accounts and full suite of loans – small dollar, citizenship, unsecured consumer, credit building, auto and mortgage – often to borrowers who could not access responsible services elsewhere and competitive dividend rates on money market and certificate products.

Chartered in 2008, Self-Help built a network of credit union branches and as of January 2017 it includes 24 branches in California, Illinois, and Florida.

There were several employees at the celebration that have been working there for 10 years and over. Sabala expressed that having a great staff is very important. There were refreshments offered to guests and a drawing to round out the festivities.