Credit Union Times - October 1, 2008 - (Page 28) NEWS For Community Development Leader, Mercy FCU Is a Family Legacy By DAVID MORRISON tute, the federation’s main professional development CU Times Senior Staff Reporter program for CDCU leaders. HOUSTON — Our Mother of Mercy Federal Credit She has also led the credit union through the comUnion has been a part of Rene Llorens’ life for almost as plex process of applying for and receiving recognition as long as she can remember. a community development financial institution from the Llorens, who currently serves as the manager and U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community DevelopCEO of the $2.1 million credit union, grew up aware of ment Financial Institution’s Fund. the credit union because her father, Leonard Llorens, “I have always believed in the credit union and that helped get it started in 1965. has led me to see not just what it is, but what it could be “The credit union opened up in too,” Llorens said. 1965, with 10 members who each Llorens explained the addiput up $5, attached to the Our tional training along with the Mother of Mercy Roman Catholic CDFI certification had been part Church in Houston,” Llorens said. of her effort to broaden the credit “My father and another gentleunion’s availability beyond the man named Jesse Balthazar walls of the parish where the CU started the credit union partly has been from the beginning. out of a conviction in the church’s “The place where we want to social mission and that has been move the credit union is not very Leonard Llorens served on the board of far away,” Llorens said, “maybe a part of it ever since.” Llorens started out as a volun- Our Lady In Mercy from its opening in quarter of a mile. But its in a very teer with the credit union in 1965 until a year before his death in commercial area an a place 1978, working as a part-time 2007. Rene Llorens hard at work con- with a lot of traffic, and our neighvolunteer over and above her tinuing to push credit union forward. borhood needs the credit union work as a teacher and eventual very badly.” school principal. She said her Llorens explained that the interest in the credit union persisted over the years part of Houston surrounding the parish and credit because she strongly believed in the credit union’s phiunion’s current location is among the city neighborlosophy and approach. She became manager of the hoods least served by mainstream financial institutions. credit union in 1995. This has left its population vulnerable to a mix of high“I just really liked it and thought this was something cost and high-fee financial firms such as check cashers I should stay involved with,” she said. and different sorts of alternative lenders. Llorens’ involvement has grown over the years. In “We like where we are now, but we are just too far off addition to managing the credit union, Llorens committhe beaten path and out of the mainstream of the area,” ted to and graduated from the National Federation of Llorens said. “Getting out more into the public will be Community Development Credit Union’s CDCU Instigood for the area and for the credit union,” she added. Llorens acknowledged that the progress forward has been slow and said she has been working on applying to the CDFI Fund for a grant to help the CU make the transition to the new space, which Llorens said the CU had identified and arranged to rent. Even though the credit union is only open 22 hours per week, Llorens explained that the work of the CU at this stage is more like a full-time job as she and other volunteers and part-time workers not only administer the credit union day to day but also seek to plan its growth and development as well. “That’s one thing, the CU is only open 22 hours, but I can be found there at almost any time,” Llorens said. According to NCUA records, Our Lady of Mercy has done well holding its own and growing. According to the NCUA, the credit union has a return on average assets that consistently outperforms its peers and outperforms its peers strongly in gaining new members. The CU also offers Internet banking, loans for both new and used cars and several other loan products, she said. On the downside, the CU’s small size also makes it vulnerable to delinquency. Currently, for example, NCUA records show a spike in Our Mother of Mercy’s delinquent loan ratio, moving from an average 1.25% since June of 2007 to 3.69% in June of this year. Llorens attributed the spike to two car loans that have gone unpaid, one for a car she has yet to track down and another for a car that the borrower has agreed to surrender. “Its the economy and things are hard, people are struggling to keep their loans up to date and paid,” she said. “But its times like these that makes a credit union even more important in people’s lives.” —dmorrison@cutimes.com we’re all about flex-ability. Let us demonstrate why our flexible-electronic-transactionprocessing-solutions are perfect for credit unions just like you. Covera Card Solutions. 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