In April, at a ceremony held at the Wisconsin State Capitol, Governor Tony Evers honored the award recipients of the 2022 Governor’s Financial Literacy Awards. The League and three Wisconsin credit unions were among the recipients!
Recipients were honored for their endeavors to help Wisconsinites build their financial literacy and capability skills. “Financial education gives people the tools they need to achieve their dreams, expand their opportunities, and attain financial security for themselves and their families,” said Governor Evers. “The dedication of these individuals and organizations to help Wisconsinites become more financially secure and achieve their dreams is commendable and helps ensure not only the future success of individuals and families, but our entire state.”
View credit union winners below:
Individual Category
Zachary L. Hancock, Marine Credit Union - La Crosse
Zachary Hancock works as a senior loan officer and certified Consumer Financial Protection Bureau financial coach with Marine Credit Union in La Crosse. As a Marine Credit Union foundation volunteer, Zachary helped co-create a financial education course focused on personal finances to help prevent recidivism and serve an underserved group of individuals. This course, taught through a collaboration with Western Technical College’s “Project Proven Program,” allows students the opportunity to receive credit, defined as “credit for prior learning,” in personal finance while incarcerated.
Organization Category
Marine Credit Union Foundation, La Crosse
Marine Credit Union Foundation created “Finding HOME,” a new program that is a resource intense, long-term financial education and homeownership program designed for people who typically fall through the cracks of existing homeownership programs. “Finding HOME” is free and consists of thorough one-on-one financial coaching, educational courses, and resource navigation assistance. Graduates of “Finding HOME” are guaranteed access to a market-rate mortgage that fits their spending plan. Since May of 2018, 344 households have been served.
Gundersen Credit Union, La Crosse
Gundersen Credit Union developed a program to assist domestic violence victims with a low interest rate loan that allows victims to get back on their feet. With the low interest rate loans, participants put down payments on apartments, obtained transportation to get to work, and purchased new clothes. They also opened individual checking and savings accounts solely in their own name, and they received credit report reviews and budget assistance, which helped many increase their credit scores.
Prime Financial Credit Union, Cudahy
Prime Financial Credit Union is committed to serving the Hispanic community, specifically those who do not have a social security number. Over 30% of Prime Financial Credit Union’s employees are bilingual, providing trusted financial counseling to assist in first-time auto loans and home loans. As certified acceptance agents for the IRS, Prime Financial Credit Union assisted 82 individuals in obtaining a traditional savings or checking account. Since 2018, Prime Financial Credit Union has not had any reportable delinquency or losses on mortgages to individuals with individual taxpayer identification numbers.
The Wisconsin Credit Union League, Saver’s Sweepstakes®, Madison
The Wisconsin Credit Union League’s Saver’s Sweepstakes® is a prize-linked savings account offered by Wisconsin credit unions that lets consumers earn entries into drawings for cash prizes by making deposits into qualified savings accounts. Incentivizing regular saving and building a savings account directly helps to reverse the continued findings that a substantial portion of consumers cannot afford a $400 emergency expense. As of October 2022, there were 14,895 Saver’s Sweepstakes® accounts collectively saving over $30 million.