“When our membership does come in to our credit union, they feel comfortable of being able to do any of their transactions or ask any questions in their own language, and that’s very important,” Stacey Calderon says.
Stacey Calderon says every employee of the credit union speaks fluent Spanish. For a professional who, at a previous job, was endearingly known as “La Guera” (a nickname for someone who is fair-skinned), it’s a helpful Spanish skill to have.
“The smaller credit unions will go out in the neighborhood and meet the people there,” she says. “It’s very important that the community just feels like we’re part of them. We’re out there talking to them, getting to know what their needs are,” Stacey Calderon says.
BY JOE ARCE AND COREY CRABLE
Stacey Calderon has made a career out of serving the underserved.
In her role as Chief Executive Officer of KC Unidos Federal Credit Union, she helps guide Latino individuals and families onto the path of financial stability. Calderon has been in her position since June 2024, when she moved to Kansas City, Missouri from Oklahoma.
“It’s only about three and a half hours from here to back home, where my kids and my grandkids are. I have three children still in Oklahoma and then seven grandkids,” Calderon explains. “So I have a big family back there, and my mom lives there. But it’s an easy three-and-a-half-hour drive. I hit I-35 and straight to Oklahoma.”
Calderon said that she’s glad that in her role with the credit union, she can help people in her new home of Kansas City.
“What I really like about this credit union is the Latino, the Hispanic base of it. I’ve always grown up around the Hispanic community,” she says. “My kids are half Mexican I speak Spanish and all my family speaks Spanish. So, it just really resonated with me, what this credit union does for the Hispanic community. Plus, I have a great working staff and board of directors all of us working as a team to better serve the community.”
In fact, Calderon says, every employee of the credit union speaks fluent Spanish. For a professional who, at a previous job, was endearingly known as “La Güera” (a nickname for someone who is fair-skinned), it’s a helpful skill to have in her staff. “When our membership does come in, they feel comfortable of being able to do any of their transactions or ask any questions in their own language, and that’s very important,” Calderon says.
Like all credit unions, KC Unidos Federal Credit Union serves many functions critical to financial literacy of the customers who walk through its doors, Calderon notes, adding that it all starts with going out into the community and meeting the people who live there,
“The smaller credit unions will go out in the neighborhood and meet the people there,” she says. “It’s very important that the community just feels like we’re part of them. We’re out there talking to them, getting to know what their needs are,” Calderon says. “It’s a good thing to have a smaller credit union or just a credit union in general, all of them are to serve the underserved. People who cannot go to a bank and maybe get an account, maybe get a loan, they can go to a credit union and nine times out of 10 get it done.”
And as an organization unconcerned with making a profit, Calderon says credit unions instead focus on helping those around them.
“Credit unions, we’re a nonprofit. We’re not looking for the profit. … We’re out there to help the membership, not to make millions and millions and millions of dollars,” she explains. “I think that’s a big difference in it. It’s just that we look at people more as the person, not as a dollar sign.”
As CEO, Calderon says she’s had the pleasure of getting to know the credit union’s Latino-majority customer base over the course of the past year.
“I’ve been very welcomed by many of our members. They’ve been very welcoming to me,” Calderon says. “I live here in the neighborhood on the Westside, so when I go into local businesses, a lot of people recognize me from the credit union. It’s been really great.”
As for what the future holds for the credit union, Calderon says she eventually wants to open up a couple of smaller branches. In the very near future, on Oct. 14, she says the business’ computer system will be upgraded, so customers will be able to make payments and remote deposits online. All new features offered on the upgrade will be available in both English and Spanish.
Calderon says she, too, understands that many Latino families prefer to keep their money close to them at home and forego the use of a bank or credit union. However, in the event that a deportation occurs, her credit union will have that money covered and able to be accessed by a deported individual’s family members.
“Unfortunately with the times we’re in right now, if some of our ITIN# members happen to get picked up and maybe get deported back to Mexico or to their home country, they’re not going to be able to take that money with them, and we don’t want them maybe depending on somebody to be able to mail it to them, or to some family member,” she says. “They need to put in the bank, they need to be able to get a debit card. Our debit cards, and most banks are accredited to use their debit cards or Visas, they can use those anywhere in the world that a Visa is accepted. So they have access to their money if they get deported back to their country.”
Whether it’s a savings or checking account, CD, consumer or home improvement loan, or even applying for a mortgage, Calderon says the credit union stands ready to help the Westside neighborhood and others in the metro with its banking needs – and thus ensure they’re served as they should be.
“We’re just here to help the community,” Calderon says.
For more information, call 816-842-6473 or visit https://www.kcunidosfcu.com/.
