MADISON, Wis. — The National Credit Union Foundation has selected 24 credit unions to receive a combined $647,600 for programs aimed at improving the financial well-being of at-risk youth.
The foundation said it initially made $500,000 available through its At-Risk Youth Financial Well-Being Grant. After receiving the largest response to an application call in the program’s history, it added funding to support more projects.
The credit unions will launch or expand programs that help young people put financial skills into practice. Depending on the project, participants may save toward goals, build credit, manage income from work, explore entrepreneurship and establish relationships with financial institutions. The foundation said grantees will work with community partners to reach young people where they are.
The ‘Throughline’
“A young person’s financial well-being is the throughline that influences nearly every opportunity that follows, from education and employment to housing and long-term stability,” NCUF Executive Director Lauren Culp said in a statement, adding that the number of applications showed strong demand among credit unions to address those challenges.
The foundation said its definition of at-risk youth includes young people experiencing poverty, housing instability, involvement in the justice system, disruptions to their education or mental health challenges. They can face barriers to opening and maintaining accounts and may lack access to safe banking relationships, it said.
The new grant cycle builds on the foundation’s Foster Youth Financial Literacy Grant. According to the foundation, eight credit unions in its 2024-25 cohort reached more than 2,200 foster youth and helped establish more than 400 new savings account relationships. A four-credit-union cohort from 2025-26 is scheduled to finish its grant period at the end of September.
Christine Hickey, the foundation’s senior manager of financial well-being programs and grants, said the participating credit unions also learn from one another as they share results and challenges during each grant cycle.
The Recipients
The 2026 recipients
- Achieva Foundation, Florida
- All One Credit Union, Massachusetts
- America’s First Federal Credit Union, Alabama
- Beacon Federal Credit Union, Texas
- Carolina Foothills Federal Credit Union, South Carolina
- Create Credit Union, Nevada
- CU Hawaii Federal Credit Union, Hawaii
- Ellafi Federal Credit Union, Connecticut
- Financial Center First Credit Union, Indiana
- Fox Communities Credit Union, Wisconsin
- 1st Bergen Federal Credit Union, New Jersey
- Greater Cleveland Community Credit Union, Ohio
- Kitsap Credit Union, Washington
- Members First Credit Union, Michigan
- Minnequa Works Credit Union, Colorado
- New Orleans Firemen’s Federal Credit Union, Louisiana
- North Carolina Community Federal Credit Union, North Carolina
- Peninsula Community Federal Credit Union, Washington
- People’s Alliance Federal Credit Union, New York
- Southwest Louisiana Credit Union, Louisiana
- TAPCO Credit Union, Washington
- Topside Federal Credit Union, Virginia
- Unitus Community Credit Union, Oregon
- Verity Credit Union, Washington
The grants run from Sept. 30, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2027. Recipients will document their work, and the foundation said it will share findings and stories from the projects with other credit unions.
The foundation said credit unions, leagues and industry partners can follow the cohort’s progress and information about future grant opportunities through the foundation’s email newsletter
