Commitment to
Community
Commitment to Community
The Ottawa Women’s Credit Union has been instrumental in improving the lives of women in this community. Over the past twenty years we’ve:
- supported training programs;
- provided loans to women with few recognized assets;
- funded research to explore the financial and training needs of women entrepreneurs in our region; and;
- sponsored local community sports teams!
Since opening our doors in 1980, the OWCU has worked to improve the lives of women in our community. A founding premise was that to be financially independent, women need to be employable. Between 1980 and 1995, more than 500 women graduated from an OWCU training program aimed at employment-disadvantaged women and 85% of these women found jobs.
We routinely lend money to women with low incomes or few traditional financial assets -- women who are repeatedly turned away from other financial institutions. We also provide emergency loans to women in crisis. Our experience has shown that these loans have a consistently high rate of repayment equalling that of traditional loans and proving that our investment makes financial sense.
More recently, we co-sponsored a study to identify the needs and priorities of women in gaining financial independence in our region. This led to the establishment of Investing in Women’s Worth - a non-profit organization helping low-income women develop viable businesses.
Every year, we’re active participants in the local Snowsuit Fund, Toy Drive, Run for Women's Shelter, and many other initiatives designed to help women and their families survive and thrive.
In fact, early in their development, we shared our office space with Pink Ribbon Voices - a survivor-led volunteer organization which provides support for women with cancer, generates awareness of the disease and raises funds for research.
When you invest with us, you invest in women.
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