Urban Beginnings Choice Federal Credit Union: Your Choice When It Comes to Serving the Underserved

By La’Crystele Brown
FWIS Contributing Writer

Mother, grandmother, and wife of 24 years Diane Starks is passionate about the work she does and the community she serves. Diane Starks started her career with Urban Beginnings Choice Federal Credit Union as Interim CEO in November of 2021, by April of 2022 the interim tag was dropped. Starks came from a background in accounting and bookkeeping, where she spent over 20 years working with for-profit and nonprofit companies and organizations. Starks also worked at GTE Verizon for 19 years and currently has her own business where she provides decorating and event planning services.

Urban Beginnings Choice Federal Credit Union was established in 2006 under the name Union Baptist Church Federal Credit Union with just 12 charter members. Its original charter included Union Baptist Church members only, but in 2018 it was revised to include The Temple and its affiliate Joshua’s Hands. Members of those congregations, their extended families, and staff and families from their affiliates can join the credit union.

At this time, Urban Beginnings Choice Federal Credit Union is looking to expand their services and one of these expansions would be changing their charter to a community charter. This would allow the credit union to provide services to a variety of individuals in the Fort Wayne area while continuing to serve the churches and their affiliates. The credit union would be expanding within the urban community as their mission is to serve the underserved.

Up until February of 2022 when the credit union moved to a space in the Urban League, they operated out of the finance room in Union Baptist Church. Soon after the move, the credit union stepped into another new season with a name change. In April of 2022 the credit union transitioned from the name Union Baptist Church Federal Credit Union to the name Urban Beginnings Choice Federal Credit Union. The credit union’s board chose this name because they serve the urban community, they want to offer a new beginning to their members and the community they serve, and lastly, they want to be your choice when it comes to a financial institute.

UBCFCU is CDFI certified, this means they receive funds through grants to serve their community and to serve the underserved. In 2020, a grant from PNC was received for member expansion and the ability to make more loans. They can give out loans to people who may have been experiencing a hindrance when trying to receive a loan from a local bank. The credit union can maneuver those obstacles and break down those barriers which allows them to provide people with personal loans and new and used auto loans, as well as savings accounts.

Currently personal loans, new and used auto loans, and savings accounts are the only services UBCFCU offers. The credit union is looking to add additional services such as homeownership loans, debit cards, and credit cards in 2023. In November 2022 the credit union started offering online banking to give their members access to their services from anywhere.

Being CDFI allows the credit union to be able to apply for grants for programs that allow them to give back. This includes being able to give high risk personal and auto loans at a low rate. They are also able to give loans to those with imperfect credit history. The credit union additionally provides financial literacy services in addition to helping members come up with a plan to work on budgeting or helping them create a plan to pay off debt collections and increase their credit scores.

Since the credit union plans to become a community charter, they will have to have the staff to be able to function properly. The credit union currently has a total of 3 employees and a board that consists of 12 members, and while they are operating amazingly at this time, they realize they will need to hire on more staff once they start serving the community. The credit union is hoping to expand during the first quarter of 2023 whether that is the community expansion, or an affiliate expansion and the goal is to have new employees hired before the expansion is active. Once the bank is hiring, they will take experience, commitment to developing, and other details into consideration. You will be able to apply on their website or by following steps for applying that will be advertised in newspapers, websites, and churches.

The credit union just hosted their annual meeting at the end of October. The meeting is for their members and at the meeting UBCFCU went over their financials, the objectives that was set in early 2022, if the objectives were or weren’t achieved how many loans were done that year, how much grant money was received and how much was used, and an overall review of the year.

UBCFCU currently partners with the Urban League and others who allow them to provide their homeownership courses and financial literacy courses. The credit union is open to partnering with other companies or organizations that may provide services or courses that are beneficial to their members, and they are also willing to extend their services or help their partners in any way they can.

Urban Beginnings Choice Federal Credit Union is all about the community and having a presence that allows them to interact, serve the underserved, and be able to provide the urban community with what’s needed and assist with any barriers being experienced. When asked what her favorite part about working at UBCFCU was, CEO Diane Starks lit up as she explained how helping someone in need of a loan made her feel. Making her members happy makes her happy. This only one of the reasons you should make Urban Beginnings Choice Credit Union your financial institute choice in the future! Keep an eye out for their community expansion or reach out and see how your church can become a charter!