Ms. Leola Stewart came into our brand-new Atlanta branch the day we opened and was one of the first three members to join. At 80 years young, this was her first time joining a credit union and opening a savings account!  

Leola is on a fixed social security income and is doing her best to help support her son, who is in a nursing home with Guillain-Barré syndrome and has been paralyzed from the waist down for the past three years.  Earlier this year, she took out two personal loans from predatory lenders that were charging interest rates of 490% and 100% (!). These lenders kept Leola in a cycle of debt until payments became unmanageable.  

When she told Mandy, the director of business development and community engagement at our Atlanta branch, about the loans, Mandy was more than happy to help Leola refinance. After Mandy worked with our legal team to get Leola out of her loans and completed the refinancing process, Leola was so happy to find out she would be saving almost $295 a month! Now, she can do more to help support her son and even start putting money into her new savings account.  

Thank you, Leola, for being a Self-Help member!  

We are glad to be able to find ways to support people like Leola, who have been impacted by predatory loans. To learn more about how Self-Help is fighting against predatory lending practices, check out the work we’re doing through our advocacy and policy arm, the Center for Responsible Lending at responsiblelending.org.

For more information on our fair and affordable auto, home, and personal financing options and other products, head to self-helpfcu.org/personal.