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The NCUA Friday announced that three minority depository institution (MDI) credit unions, including a NAFCU-member credit union, will receive a total of $74,875 in grants to establish mentoring programs as part of the agency's new pilot program.

The MDI mentoring program will allow smaller, qualifying credit unions to establish mentoring programs with larger low-income, MDI credit unions that can provide guidance in serving low-income and underserved populations. The grants are provided through the NCUA's Community Development Revolving Loan Fund.

"I'm delighted we could help these small credit unions establish relationships with larger institutions to help them grow and thrive,” NCUA Chairman Rodney Hood said in a release. "These grants are in keeping with the agency's efforts to support and preserve minority depository institutions, which are so vital to providing affordable financial services and investments to their communities."

The three recipients are:

• NAFCU-member District Government Employees Federal Credit Union, of Washington, D.C., which will be mentored by NAFCU-member Local Government Federal Credit Union, of Raleigh, N.C.;
• Fidelis Federal Credit Union, of New York City, which will be mentored by Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union, also of New York City; and
• Southern Teachers and Parents Federal Credit Union, of Baton Rouge, La., which will be mentored by ECFU Financial, of Baton Rouge.

Through the program, the larger credit unions will provide technical assistance, such as building staff capacity through training, improvements to credit union operations, and assistance with modernization processes. At the end of the pilot, the NCUA will use the results to determine if the program will expand in the future.

Mara Falero, JetStream Federal Credit Union's vice president of marketing and communications, recently testified on behalf of NAFCU before a House Financial Services subcommittee on the important role MDI and Community Development Financial Institutions play in serving communities and members in need. See Falero's recommendations for Congress to allow credit unions to better serve more Americans.