Dear Member,

Since starting as CEO back in 2016, I have had the opportunity to see just how amazing our membership can be. To be part of the Tucoemas team, to work alongside our board and our staff, and to experience the joy and gratitude of our membership and our community… this has truly been a wonderful experience. Thank you all.

With your support, Tucoemas has continued to thrive, even in challenging times. For this reason, we have felt a responsibility to ensure that our membership and our community continue to be supported. In the last few years, we have returned hundreds of thousands of dollars to our membership, waived tens of thousands of dollars in fees, and worked to provide some breathing room during those turbulent times.

As of 2021, we have received over $2M in grant funding as a Community Development Financial Institution. These funds have allowed us to help our community as it recovers from the challenges of the pandemic. It is very much in this vein that I come to you now.

Tucoemas is excited to announce a new program to help those in greatest need in our community. Our new program will be called the Impact Loan. This product will allow qualified members (based on need) to have access to small dollar, 0% interest loans. These funds will be dispersed on an as-needed basis, and will have a built-in savings component. Not only will recipients pay 0% interest, but when the loan is fully repaid, a portion of the loan will be deposited in a savings account to help our member build a financial safety net for future emergencies. This is an extremely important step toward helping our members avoid the ravages of predatory lending and debt spirals that can be so prevalent in our community.

At Tucoemas, we believe that it takes a village to help our community rise. So, on 11/30/2021 we are taking the historic step of reducing our membership share deposit from $25 to $5. As a member, you will no longer be required to keep a $25 balance in your share account. We will happily return the excess funds ($20) into your account. However, for those who would like to help us launch our new Impact Loan program, we will happily apply $10 of these excess funds to our Impact Loan startup contribution on 12/01/2021. We will return the $10 remaining excess to your account. If you elect not to apply the $10 contribution to the Impact Loan program, please call us at 559.737.5921 or email us at [email protected] before 12/01/21. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that you would like to contribute to our Impact Loan program and will return the excess $10 to your account.

We believe this is an amazing way for our members to help lift our entire community. Tucoemas will match all the funds contributed by our membership as we attempt to launch this new program just in time for the holiday season. We know that many in our community struggle to make ends meet around the holidays, and providing relief through our Impact Loan is just one more way we can rise together.