Brooklyn is home to so many great institutions: BAM, the Wonder Wheel, Champs Diner.
I recently added a new favorite to my list: the Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union!
At the behest of Bushwick Daily, I attended a free workshop at Brooklyn Cooperative last month called Tax Tips for Freelancers. Not only did I soak up some sound tax advice, I also…
- Met a bunch of cool fellow freelancers—among them a party planner, a bike messenger, and a soap maker (so fun)
- Spoke at length with two of the credit union’s knowledgeable and righteous employees—one of whom also teaches self-defense and leads tours in Cuba!
- Was offered some great-looking free pizza, which I only turned down because I had just eaten (but I’ll come prepared next time; oh yes I will)
While I cannot argue with this sentiment, our event went a lot better than this
Just as importantly, I was also turned on to some crucial information about credit unions that I had sort of failed to internalize before, such as the fact that they’re nonprofit organizations. Credit unions are owned by members (not shareholders), so they don’t have a business’s usual mandate to make money—just a mission to offer fair and affordable financial services to their community. They also don’t invest members’ money in the stock market, earning their income instead by making fair rate loans and charging small fees for some types of accounts.
Sounds fresh, right?
A Brooklyn Cooperative employee (the self-defense person, actually) offered this nice call to action: “If you’re interested in divesting from banks that fund pipelines and contribute to the housing crisis, switching your checking and savings accounts to a credit union is a great choice.”
I’m on it, Brooklyn Cooperative! Thanks for the timely inspiration.
Read the whole fun-filled, fact-filled article on Bushwick Daily.
*While Brooklyn usually feels like the center of -slash only place in the universe to me, I understand there are credit unions all over the country. Woo hoo! Can’t say they all offer free pizza at their free workshops, though. If you find out, let me know.
April Greene 
Hi April—
So happy to see you plugging credit unions — hooray! For five years (late 80s, I think) I was the Charlotte Director of our branch of the Self-Help Credit Union, one of the leading credit unions in the country. Here we mostly focused on loans for low-income housing, but the work was very diverse. Some of the smartest, most creative people I’ve ever worked with, esp. since it was all very cutting-edge lending at the time. So, ever since I’ve had a special place in my heart for credit unions. Interestingly, one of the things I loved doing the most was working with nonprofits and free-lancers in tax workshops (by that time I had already been a CPA for a while). Love how these things criss-cross through (and throughout) our lives.
Sally
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So cool! Thanks, Sally. You’re always an inspiration :) (p.s. I love these life criss-crosses, too. One just never knows!)
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