“People Helping People” is a credit union philosophy that helps guide not only our day-to-day operations but perfectly sums up what credit unions are all about. This philosophy helps Baylands Family Credit Union find new and innovative ways to teach and develop Financial Education initiatives that help not only our members but the community-at-large.

This year Baylands has been focused on two major initiatives - Youth Financial Education & Empowerment and Community Partner In-Person Education Seminars. The goal is to help the next generation and local community members gain knowledge that helps them feel more empowered about their financial future.  

In April during BFCU Credit Union Youth Month, Baylands presented “Let’s Talk About Loans” to multiple Economics classes filled with juniors and seniors at local Bruton High School. The combination consumer and mortgage lending presentation focused on giving students a fun and interactive overview of car and mortgage loans. When asked about the experience, Desiree, a member service representative at our Norge branch had this to say: “It was a great experience getting to work hands-on with high school students, giving them a better understanding of their financial future!”

During the year, Baylands has worked with the Virginia Cooperative Extension to provide volunteers to participate in several “Reality Store” experiences. The “Reality Store” experience gives youth a preview of being an adult and budgeting for expenses like housing, transportation, clothing, and more. After a recent “Reality Store” experience at King and Queen Elementary School, Melissa, a Baylands member service representative at our West Point Branch said, “It is a great teaching tool for the students. I really enjoyed being part of the learning experience and watching the children’s reactions at the cost of living based on the choices they were making.”  

So far in 2024, more than 400 local youth have been impacted by the Baylands Youth Financial Education & Empowerment initiative.  

At the beginning of the year, Teresa Millis, BFCU CEO laid out a challenge of finding ways to connect with the community and conduct more in-person financial education events. The challenge helped Baylands to forge a partnership with Thrive Virginia, a local community resource agency, to host a series of in-person financial education seminars.

The first collaborative seminar was held on March 9th at our West Point branch. The Keys 2 Homeownership Seminar featured several speakers who are local real estate experts. The seminar focused on helping anyone who had questions about the home-buying process. When talking about the seminar, Baylands mortgage lending manager Tina Trimmer stated, “It was a pleasure to talk with a diverse group of people that are focused on moving toward a future goal of homeownership. Hopefully, we answered some questions that will make the journey less stressful and look forward to holding another class soon!”

On July 13th the second collaborative seminar entitled “Credit Confidence” will take place at the Thrive King & Queen Family C.A.R.E Center. This seminar is designed to help answer common questions about credit and help get attendees on the path to better credit so that they can achieve financial goals.

As a past recipient of the esteemed Alexander Desjardins Financial Education Award, Baylands has helped a myriad of people improve their financial education IQ.  Baylands Financial Education initiatives have also been enjoyed by BFCU staff members who have the opportunity to connect with the local community and utilize their financial knowledge and training. As we look to the future, expect Baylands to continue its mission to help teach financial education in the classrooms and community with more new initiatives.

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