Want to help your community? Start a credit union.

I've been getting into the idea of giving back to my community and realized I would love to help start a credit union. It’s a long shot, but I would love some advice on how to do this.<br><br>Here are some financial stats for my area:<br><br>- Median income: \~$60,000/year<br>- Median age: \~30 years old<br>- Median credit score: 700s<br>- Most common demographic is: ~30 years old, 80-90k annual income, $15,000-50,000 in savings, and a credit score of >700<br>- 75% of the area has money to invest and half of that has financial assets >$100,000<br>- 50% of the area is educated at a college level and has a ~$10,000 student loan<br>- Median debt is: home, car, and ~$10,000 in student loans.<br>- Median financial assets: ~$5,000 in savings and about 16% of the area has money in retirement (no idea about other assets, though)<br><br>Some stats about the area:<br><br>- Median home price: ~$300,000<br>- Median rent: ~$2,000<br>- Average gas price: ~$4.50<br>- Average cost of living (a gallon of milk, a pound of ground beef, etc).<br><br>We are a relatively affluent area, but with the recent housing bubble prices have skyrocketed.<br><br>From my understanding, credit unions are usually owned and controlled by their members through elected boards. This sounds like a great opportunity for the community to buy into that and have more stake in it overall.<br><br>But, I have no idea on how to start one. Thoughts?<br><br>TL;DR: Want to help your community? Start a credit union. I think.<br><br>Edit: Wow, this blew up. Thank you so much for the answers, everyone! I'll be reading through them all and taking them into account. I know this will be a tough road, but I'm getting excited!