Favorite Sermon On The Injustice Of Risk-Based Lending At SECU - Making Member Lives Purposefully More Difficult...

 

 " There is no reason, there can be no justification for any of us to make life purposefully more difficult for someone else." 

- Fred Byrd, SECU Member

Fred Byrd passed away at the age of 87.  Fred Byrd started out life as one of eight children, son of a hardscrabble sharecropper in rural Hoke County, North Carolina.  The funeral was held Saturday at Rock Springs Missionary Baptist Church - standing room only.    

Might say that 70 or 80 years ago in the rural South, that the "odds for success" were not exactly stacked in Fred Byrd's favor; but Fred Byrd was a remarkable man.  Loved by many, admired and respected by all.

Fred Byrd was faithful in his mission in life to his five children, his church, his extended family reunion association, his friends and to his work. Those things Fred touched with his life were always improved; he wasn't always necessarily the leader, but he was always in-charge. The Minister said one of Fred's favorite pastimes was talking.  Fred was plain-spoken and freely shared his thoughts and opinions with others - whether you were ready or not! With Fred Byrd, you didn't have to wonder what he thought or felt. Fred didn't shirk his responsibility "to counsel" you when you needed it. The Minister said Fred even counseled him on his sermons: "Keep it simple and, most importantly, don't take all day!"

Fred Byrd counseled me often over the years; it was always advice well worth getting. I distinctly remember our "first session".... 

You probably need to know that Fred Byrd's career was as the supervisor of housekeeping at a very large, state-operated mental hospital in Raleigh. A challenging task with numerous employees, 3-shifts, 7x24x365 operations in an environment which required not only great skill, but also great flexibility, discretion and compassion. Fred Byrd was definitely the right man for the job; he cared about everything. Fred took his work, his life very, very personally.

But Fred Byrd, true to his roots, also worked a second job at the CU keeping our house in order. One evening Fred dropped by the office and said: "Mr. Blaine (... immediately knew I was in trouble!), could I speak with you a moment about the trash?" You want to "talk trash" to me Fred? "That's not what I said!  I don't want to talk trash to you; I want to talk about your trash!"(... this was really not looking good.) Fred told me that he knew that I brought in fast food for lunch everyday and ate in the office. Fred was into GPS tracking long before the technology was invented!

(... no burgers, of course!) 

 He noted that the bag and remaining cup of ice from the soft drink ended up in the trashcan nearby. Fred pointed out that by the end of the day that the ice had melted and created quite a problem and a mess for his folks. Fred said softly that he was sure that this was just an oversight and something that had never occurred to me (and it hadn't); and would I mind emptying out the ice in a sink before discarding it? Fred was looking me dead in the eyes as he "counseled" me. And then he made the lesson stick:

"Mr Blaine, there is no reason, there can be no justification for any of us to make life purposefully more difficult for someone else."

   

In life, I have received no finer counsel. 

In closing the funeral, as the casket was rolled down the aisle to the strains of "I'll Fly Away", the Minister had one final thought about the man Fred Byrd:   

            "Your best sermon in life is the one you live."

                                            Amen/ 

  😎 Could the same "counsel" apply to a credit union, or would that make it a unicorn?                  

  ...  as in Asheville, as in Western North Carolina, as in life risk-based lending is making life harder for SECU members - without justification.

Hurricane Helene Devastated Western North Carolina - SECU Could Easily Help Members Much More, But Hasn't...

  

Western North Carolina - Fall, 2024.

❇ Just to refresh your memory: The storm and its aftermath caused 1,400 landslides and damaged over 160 water and sewer systems, at least 6,000 miles of roads, more than 1,000 bridges and an estimated 126,000 homes. Some 220,000 households [!!] are expected to apply for federal assistance.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed an executive order to increase unemployment benefits for workers who are impacted by Hurricane Helene and are struggling to make ends meets. The Asheville metro area unemployment rate has doubled to 6.1%, in Mitchell County unemployment reached 8.9%, highest in the State. 

New Gov. Josh Stein’s inaugural address stressed hurricane recovery as the #1 issue facing North Carolina in 2025.

✅ So, we've been "arguing" now for a couple of years about the "New/New" philosophy adopted by the SECU Board in 2021. That discussion has centered around risk-based lending, open membership, local vs. global, people before profits, providing service well above "industry standard".

 

Well, here's another unicorn opportunity for the SECU Board! A chance to once again distinguish and demonstrate that at "SECU - There Is A Difference" - helping members in North Carolina not only in unique ways, but with extraordinary care, forethought, and concern (as you did in the past!)

 

SECU has hundreds of thousands of members in Western North Carolina. Do you think that any of them may have lost a spouse, house, job, or were injured as a result of the hurricane? Yes they did!  Thousands of your fellow members were hit hard, some wiped out completely. Do you think any of them may have been late on a bill or completely missed a payment?  If so, what do you think will happen to their credit scores - for the next seven years? 

 

✅ With this disaster, you now have a terrible, real life, real people example of why risk-based lending is discriminatory and unjust. These Western North Carolina SECU members did nothing wrong! Hurricane Helene was a natural disaster and "act of God", yet thousands of our fellow members will be unjustly penalized by the SECU Board via higher "RBL" rates on their loans - for the next seven years. That sound fair to you? Would you, as a fellow SECU member, fix this problem if you could?

 

❇ The good news is that the SECU Board can fix this unfair discrimination by simply rescinding  risk-based lending for all the members in Western North Carolina right now.  And give our fellow members a hand up, instead of another slap in the face . Don't we all want to help our fellow members in this simple way? Won't cost you a penny (far less than a Super Bowl ad!). Easy to do!  Why wouldn't the SECU Board want to help Western North Carolina?

✅ The SECU Board even includes a member of Governor Stein's Cabinet - a director who can make the motion! If it's good enough for "the Gov", it ought to be good enough for the SECU Board! Let's stop twiddling our thumbs, watching "our screens" and instead look up and help "our folks" in Western North Carolina!

 

😎 Hope this post makes the members of SECU - you - care enough to ask for action. 

 

... another chance to be the real thing... a credit union!