08 December 2008
Empowering a Community
By Gwen Moore
Before Americorps, there was VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), created in 1965 as part of the War on Poverty initiated by President Lyndon Johnson. About 10 years later, a young African-American woman joined VISTA to help her neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and began a lifetime of service.
Gwen Moore is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, elected in 2004, and the first African American to represent the state of Wisconsin in Congress. Prior to her congressional service, she was an elected official in state government for 14 years and was recognized as VISTA Volunteer of the Decade 1976-1986.
“We will either find a way, or make one.”
That was the motto when I was sworn into Volunteers in Service to America in the 1970’s, and it became my personal mantra.
I went into VISTA because the neighborhood where I grew up had lost its way. I was a board member of the Midtown Neighborhood Association in my hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and we were struggling to lift people out of poverty.
I was a lifelong resident of Midtown, and I could see the financial quicksand that was sucking the community down. People who earned very little money to begin with paid unreasonable rates for loans and insurance. Traditional financial institutions didn’t want to serve poor urban neighborhoods. Businesses crumbled and closed.
On the association board, we knew that the lack of banking resources was a key element in the decline of our neighborhood. Institutions were not investing in the neighborhoods around us, and opportunities commonly available elsewhere were just dreams. My neighborhood group realized the community needed a local financial institution to provide a foundation on which to build a stable future.
The association board asked me to become a VISTA and organize a financial empowerment initiative. Our project was to establish the Cream City Community Development Credit Union to offer basic banking and loans for projects that created jobs, cultivated local businesses, and contributed to the development of Milwaukee’s inner city.
We had to start from the very beginning. We didn’t have staplers, pens, paper, or desks. We begged, borrowed, and negotiated rock-bottom prices for office furniture and supplies. My colleagues and I worked almost every night, weekend, and holiday to transform our dream into an enterprise.
In early November of my first year, we learned about a federal government loan program that might provide some operating capital. The November 30 application deadline was less than a month away. We worked day and night pulling together the necessary documentation and forms. Days before the deadline, we worked through the Thanksgiving holiday, gathered around my dining room table to finish our application and business plan. Completing that work with turkey and cranberry sauce on the side is still one of my fondest holiday memories. Our diligence paid off and we received a $10,000 loan, which provided the initial capital we needed to open the credit union.
Then we had to win over the residents of the community. By going door-to-door, we convinced residents to open accounts at Cream City. The minimum account opening balance had to be $50, which was a lot of money in a community where the majority of people were on welfare. But we got enough accounts to prove that Cream City could become a valued community institution.
When we were finally able to open Cream City’s doors, I was mesmerized by the effect it had on the community. People were able to start thinking about building assets instead of just making ends meet. They could invest in the community by getting a home or small business loan, then give back to the community by hiring residents or improving their small part of the neighborhood.
Economic activity in Midtown began to buzz. Groups formed that eventually brought in a coin-operated laundry and a health clinic. Cream City created an economic momentum that led to housing development and an improved quality of life. Other businesses followed, the community developed a new pride, and the neighborhood experienced a renaissance.
Too many people believe that where you start out dictates where you end up. That didn’t happen to me, and it shouldn’t happen to anyone. VISTA – now known as AmeriCorps-VISTA – made the difference for me and the community where I grew up. Now, more than 30 years later, the Midtown area is thriving, growing, and proud. The Cream City Federal Credit Union led the way for this poor inner-city community to take control of its destiny. Cream City eventually morphed into another institution, and today my family still does its banking there.
Through my VISTA experience, I learned the value of self-help, coalition building, interracial cooperation, and mobilization. I gained self-confidence, patience, and faith, as well as financial, networking, and organizational skills. Above all, I realized that great things can be accomplished with the collective strength of community, thus strengthening my commitment to community service. Now I serve on the Financial Services Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and have the opportunity to help other struggling communities. Without my VISTA service, I doubt I would have been able to attain this position.
But my VISTA service wasn’t about empowering me – it was about empowering the people and the community. Projects like Cream City Community Development Credit Union are VISTA’s legacy because they blazed a trail that others followed. That trail leads the way out of poverty.
