Info

B.O.N.D. Community FCU was organized with a Federal charter on April 11th, 1972. It has been the longest-standing community-based credit union chartered in Georgia's history. The political and economic environment of the late 1960's and early 1970's played a key role in the formation and the changes in the field of membership since the organization of the Credit Union. Little 5 Points, the business district in which we are still located today, had fallen into decay and the neighborhoods surrounding it had also declined. Evictions were rampant, "for sale" signs were up at almost every property, and the entire area had a reputation of violence and heavy drug trafficking. Some neighborhoods were so neglected, that even fire trucks and police patrols refused to come to the area. There was a large anti-war effort at the time, and those who chose to avoid participating in the Vietnam conflict volunteered their time and talents in projects closer to home. One of these efforts was the VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program. Volunteers in this program became very involved with this in-town area of Atlanta that was identified by them as a neighborhood in desperate need. A few miles away, downtown Atlanta was growing and expanding, forcing Atlanta's hippie community to seek new places to live. Many in this community either voluntarily or involuntarily moved into the Little 5 Points area, and found a home in this predominately white, absentee landlord-owned urban area. At that point, the white migration to the suburbs left the city and state governments looking to build more roads to connect downtown to more distant areas, and the B.O.N.D. Community was a key target for one of the largest roads planned at the time: the I-485 project. Such a road would have split the neighborhood in two sections between North Decatur Road and Ponce de Leon Ave! The project started with the re-zoning of the area, and the demolition of 554 neighborhood homes and an orphanage located where we find the Carter Center today. The neighbors soon reacted by organizing protests, gathering the support, and funding needed from the recently demolished Inman Park Presbyterian Church and its Pastor Charlie Helms, who used the funds from the condemnation of his church to create U.T.O.A. (Urban Training of Atlanta) a foundation to stop the highway project. The community swiftly organized and attracted attention to the neighborhood, where the demonstrations continued. In one instance a neighborhood resident, still a B.O.N.D. Community FCU member today, chained herself to an overpass to express the community's outrage. During this time, the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), a religious group with funds dedicated to assisting impoverished individuals help themselves, and John Sweet, who was participating in the VISTA program and a passionate community advocate, entered the picture. Concurrently, the Bass Organization for Neighborhood Development (B.O.N.D.) was organized to help five in-town neighborhoods take back their community. These neighborhoods were Little 5 Points, Inman Park (Atlanta's first suburb built after the Civil War, with some of Georgia's most beautiful Victorian and antebellum-style mansions), Poncey-Highlands, Candler Park, and Lake Claire. All these neighborhoods were considered low-income communities, consisting mainly of multi-family rental dwellings. Both the MCC and B.O.N.D. came into the neighborhood, as John Sweet says, "to better the plight of the residents." The community believed that only through property ownership would the average individual wield any power and escape poverty. Only through buying homes, residing in them, and fighting for them could the people be empowered and the road construction stopped. Everyone should have been given the opportunity to own a home, but due to "red-lining," there was no such opportunity for the residents of this area. Financial institutions located in and around these neighborhoods would gladly take deposits, but would not reinvest back into the community. Along with other programs needed and being developed (such as WRFG- cooperative radio station, the Community Star- cooperative newspaper, the Neighborhood associations, the Community Congress- annual meeting of all five neighborhoods, and the Community Health Project) a financial institution was necessary to follow the philosophy of the local people, to reinvest back into the community, and to provide services and financial counseling to improve "the plight of the residents." After a long two-year struggle with the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), which was reluctant to charter a credit union with the expressed intent to provide real estate lending, Stan Wyse and John Sweet were able to charter B.O.N.D. Community Federal Credit Union. The MCC then provided the initial funding of $2,500 to start-up the credit union on a shoestring budget. Then, the Board of Directors, made of primarily MCC members, debated the dividend payout decision at great length. The MCC, known for its strict monetary discipline and conservative manner, had conflicting views as to how dividends should be paid. Some board members believed that to secure the soundness of the credit union, dividends had to be reinvested back into the credit union rather than paid-out to the membership. Other board members, like John Sweet, believed that the people for whom the credit union was established to serve were poor, and if they were going to save at B.O.N.D Community FCU, it had to be to their best advantage. Once the issues were resolved, the credit union was firmly in the hands of community residents. Dividends were commenced at a full quarter percent over the closest competitor, C&S Bank, and deposits began to grow. But by the fourth quarter of the first year of operation, there were not enough funds in reserves to pay dividends. This was the point where the credit union proved itself to the community! The board devised a plan for increasing reserves in order to pay the dividends as they had been declared. They would take the available funds in reserves, borrow a resident's large truck, and pick peaches on a farm south of Atlanta. The plan was to bring these peaches back to Atlanta and by selling them on the street, raise the $210 needed to pay dividends. Board members and the Mennonite volunteers selflessly participated in this event. At 5:00 am, they drove the truck to the Atlanta Farmer's Market, where they purchased as many bushel baskets as they could afford: 65. They then drove to Roberta, Georgia (101 miles south of Atlanta) and by mid-day, they had filled all of the baskets with organic peaches donated by a good friend of John Sweet's, Mr. Lou Becker. The rest of the day was spent selling the peaches in the streets of the B.O.N.D. community for $4 per bushel (one-half the market rate). By days' end, they had raised enough money to pay the declared dividends, thus ensuring the continued dividend payout and the extended growth of the credit union. The debates with NCUA continued over our lending policies. By mid-1973, we had lent out $1500, of our $15,000 in deposits, for a long-term loan to help a member buy a home. To quote John Sweet, "NCUA had a fit! They wanted us to make loans for color TVs and we needed to be making home loans. Poor people didn't need color TVs, we needed homes." At one point, NCUA threatened to close our doors. Negotiations were held, agreements made, and proposals were drawn up to modify our loan policy. By this time, the credit union had doubled in assets. B.O.N.D. Community FCU requested and received low-income status. Once we were able to accept non-member deposits, the "Blue Ribbon Committee" was formed. This committee was formed from any Board member who had a suit and tie (a total of five people!) to solicit stronger credit unions for large and long-term deposits. This would allow B.O.N.D. Community FCU to offer even larger and longer-term mortgage loans. The campaign was a success! By the end of 1974, we had deposits of $101,390 and had booked 162 loans totaling over $165,000, most of which were real estate. We were experiencing great capital growth and low loan loss. This trend caused NCUA some concern. They felt that we were not charging off enough loans and our delinquency rate was too small. This is still a trend today at B.O.N.D. Community FCU and continues to cause NCUA concern even after so many years. NCUA once again tried to convince the Board of directors to take greater credit risks. The Board once again reminded NCUA that our primary purpose was and is to assure homeownership as a base for our community. Operated initially out of a neighbor's kitchen, B.O.N.D. Community FCU soon took a space in Little 5 Points. Over the years, our field of membership has expanded. The first of these expansions was when membership was opened to people working at the businesses located within our boundaries. These people felt the same sense of community as people who lived in the neighborhood and felt they should not be denied credit union membership. This change significantly expanded the neighborhood's use of the credit union. Our average share deposit grew 55% over the next three years. In more recent years we have added new neighborhoods to our original group including Cabbagetown, Edgewood, East Atlanta, East Lake, Grant Park-S.A.N.D. Fourth Ward, Kirkwood and Reynoldstown. Each of these additional neighborhoods is unique, yet they all have one thing in common: They are transitional and have no or little representation by a community-involved financial institution. These neighborhoods are going through what we faced so many years ago, and with the credit union's resources and experience, their growth and success can be assured. Currently, B.O.N.D. Community FCU serves over 5,000 members, and as of December 2008, assets exceeded $34 million dollars. B.O.N.D. Community FCU has loaned over $143 million dollars to residents who have renovated hundreds of in-town homes. The size of the credit union may be greater but the atmosphere has not changed much since 1972. Rocking chairs, church pews, and teller stations with chairs to sit in while conducting transactions make everyone who visits feel relaxed and welcomed. Friends greet, hug, and get caught up on the latest neighborhood news in the lobby just as they did in that kitchen all those years ago.