Independent Banker - May 2019 - 71

Next: CCB Community Bank goes back to school
Industrial Bank
staff give awards
to participants
after they
complete
several weeks of
workshops.
many are vulnerable to predatory fi nancial services or
ill-equipped to make healthy fi nancial decisions.
" A lot of things boil down to money, and if you're able to
manage your money and budget your money, it guides your
decisions, " Boles says. " So, hopefully this will help them to
reduce the opportunity for them to reoff end, because they
have that skill set, they have those resources now and they
have a network of our community banks that support them. "
Woodard and Lisa Hinton, assistant vice president and
branch manager, recently ran into one participant in his 30s
or 40s who, after being released following years of incarceration,
fi lled out a deposit slip and met with a bank teller for
the fi rst time ever. Others have seen an impact while still
incarcerated. One participant presented his program certifi -
cate at a hearing regarding early release, Hinton says, where
his jail time was reduced.
'Everyone has a story'
The work has had a personal impact on Industrial Bank's
staff . The community bank approach to relationship banking
extends to these workshops, staff members say. " They really
bring themselves to the volunteering that they do, so we've
had a great, great relationship with them, " Chapman says.
Boles says sitting side by side with people who rarely get
to see their families is humbling. " I can't even begin to articulate
the impact it's had on my life and my perspective of
life. Everyone has a story, " she says. " You get full [of pride]
every time, because you see a new possibility. It's almost like
watching a fl ower bloom right before your eyes, knowing
that you gave it a little water or gave it a little fertilizer. "
Hinton says fi nances aren't intuitive, so understanding
story or good childhood. It makes it all worthwhile. "
Woodard adds: " We said, 'If we just touch one,' [but] ...
you're not just touching one. You're touching the families
of that one person, which trickles down into the friends of
that family. As a native Washingtonian, to be able to impact
those who are coming back to the very community in which
I grew up ... that's very impactful for me. "
How does Mitchell describe the Industrial Bank team's
passion for touching people's lives? " Contagious, " he says.
" We're a bank that cares about them and their fi nancial
well-being that can show them the ropes. "
Eric Best is deputy editor of Independent Banker.
independentbanker.org Q 71
them requires a guiding hand. " Somebody has to take the
time to show you, to teach you, to pour into you, " she says.
" And someone did that for us, and we now have the opportunity
to do it for those who may not have had the same good
" A lot of things boil down
to money, and if you're able
to manage your money
and budget your money, it
guides your decisions. "
-Jacquie McSears Boles, Industrial Bank
http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - May 2019

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