Economic Development With Heart
 Sarah Murdoch
Vancouver
CCEC Credit Union
Commercial Drive on Vancouver's east side is the hub of one of the city's most dynamic neighbourhoods. Eclectic is probably the best word to describe "The Drive", as locals calls it. The street is a United Nations of sights, smells and other sensations. Ethnically and economically diverse, it was included on a list of North America's ten coolest urban hangouts in the U.S. magazine, Utne Reader. The community surrounding Commercial Drive is New Urbanism's dream come true. Homes, green spaces and diversified commerce-funky cafes, hip restaurants, great bookstores, shops of all kinds-are matched by a palpable community spirit, and a wide range of social resources. It was the perfect place for Sarah Murdoch to land right after university in the mid-1990s, when she dreamed of working in the area of community economic development. Joining the CCEC Credit Union helped her dream come true.
"I was involved in the setup of a farmer's market," said Murdoch. "We didn't have any money to start off with. Banks weren't interested, but CCEC let us open an account, and supported our efforts. So I joined too."
The farmer's market, which has since expanded to other parts of Vancouver, was started to give small farmers direct access to urban consumers, and city dwellers an opportunity to purchase really good fresh produce, much of it organic. It suited the credit union's mandate perfectly. In the mid-1970s, it was formed by the Community Congress for Economic Change Society, pooling the resources of various community-based groups in order to establish, maintain, and promote a range of initiatives leading to healthy community development. Now with 3,000 members, the CCEC Credit Union continues to focus on supporting cooperatives, community businesses and the non-profit sector, as well as individuals.
Today, Sarah has a challenging job coordinating a small craft harbours program for about fifty non-commercial harbour groups along the B.C. coast. She's also on CCEC's board of directors.
"They stuck by me when I didn't have much money. Now I've got a good income, and I'm sticking with them."
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