Center for Community Self-Help

Background

The Center for Community Self-Help (Self-Help) is an umbrella group for the Self-Help network of nonprofit organizations in North Carolina focused on community development and financial services for women, immigrants, rural residents, and low-income families and communities. The Self-Help network includes Self-Help Credit Union, Self-Help Federal Credit Union, Self-Help Ventures Fund, and the Center for Responsible Lending. ^{1  2}

Self-Help is funded through grant contributions, government grants, member deposits, and debt financing. ² According to a 2015 article by the Washington Free Beacon, the Self-Help network had received over $380 million in federal grants, loans, and assistance from 1996 through 2015. ³

History

The Center for Community Self-Help (Self-Help) was established in in 1980 by attorney Martin Eakes and his wife Bonnie Wright to extend credit to workers affected by factory and mill closures within Durham, North Carolina and to develop employee‑owned factories and recover jobs. By 1983, Self-Help formally established the Self-Help Credit Union. In 1984 the network expanded to providing mortgage loans to low-income families who were unable to get a mortgage from conventional banks. ⁴

In 1984 the Self-Help Ventures Fund was established to focus on larger community development loans, and in 1996 it secured federal CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) status and funding. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Self-Help expanded its portfolio to include real estate development focused on acquiring and renovating historic buildings. The credit union network expanded to over 80 branches in ten states as of 2026 through the establishment of new branches as well as mergers and acquisitions with other financial institutions. ^{5  6}

In 2002 Self-Help established the Center for Responsible Lending, a left-of-center research and policy advocacy organization that advocates against lending practices such as payday lending and high mortgage loan fees. ⁶

Affiliated Organizations

The Self-Help Credit Union is a state-chartered credit union in North Carolina with additional branches in Florida, Georgia, and Virginia. It is a member-owned, federally insured credit union. ⁷

The Self-Help Federal Credit Union is a federally chartered credit union with branches in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Wisconsin, South Carolina, and Washington. ⁷

The Center for Responsible Lending was established in 2002 as a research, policy, and regulatory advocacy that works at the state and federal levels to promote lending practices that support lower income communities. ² Its efforts target reforms against what it claims to be abusive lending practices, including payday loans, overdraft fees, and high-interest mortgages. ⁸ Its advocacy efforts included support for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, working with the National Consumer Law Center to support the passage of the Protect Wages Act, and support for the cancellation of student loan debt by the Biden administration. ⁹ It provides grants to left-of-center advocacy organizations, including the Alaska Public Interest Research Group, and the Economic Progress Institute. ¹⁰

The Self-Help Ventures Fund is a certified community development financial institution (CDFI) by the U.S. Treasury Department that provides funds and financial assistance to disadvantaged communities where traditional banks typically do not lend, focusing on higher-risk commercial loans and real estate development. ⁷

Partnerships

Self-Help is a member of the Housing Partnership Network (HPN), a collaborative of over 120 housing and community development groups focused on providing low-income housing to prevent loss of access to affordable housing due to what it alleges as racial discrimination. ^{11  12} Other HPN members include Capital Impact Partners, Catholic Charities Housing Services, and Partners for the Common Good. ¹³

Self-Help partners with other organizations to support its goals. In July 2026, it hosted a panel conversation with leaders from the Union of Southern Service Workers and the Southern Service Workers Education Fund (affiliated with the Service Employees International Union) to discuss community organizing, coalition building, and “building collective power.” ¹⁴

Self-Help presented at the July 2026 NAACP Convention in Chicago, Illinois on predatory lending and the ways it claims that Black and Latino borrowers are targeted. ¹⁴

Self-Help partners with the Reinvestment Fund and Hope Credit Union in support of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). ¹⁵

Other organizations Self-Help has partnered with include the Urban Institute, the Greater Durham Black Chamber of Commerce, Lawyers for Good Government, and Climate United. ¹⁶

Leadership

As of 2026, Self-Help co-founder Martin Eakes was the CEO of Self-Help. Eakes has a law degree from Yale University Law School and founded Self-Help in 1980 immediately after earning his degree. ^{17  18}