Perseverance and fortitude.

Those are words employees at Electchester Federal Credit Union use to describe Valery Sadofsky and the work she does to keep “our struggling credit union afloat.”

The $470,000 asset credit union in Flushing N.Y., serves residents and employees of Electchester Housing, a 2,500-unit housing co-op in a working-class Queens neighborhood.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3 built the co-op in 1949 to provide affordable housing for its members.

Sadofsky and her family moved to the housing co-op in 1990 and soon joined Electchester Federal.

She quickly became an active credit union volunteer, including serving on the board and supervisory committee over the years. In 2005, she took over the post of treasurer.

It was a sudden development, she notes, due to the previous treasurer’s departure.

“I had to learn a lot,” she says. “I felt I was at the bottom of the ocean swimming up.”

Sadofsky now devotes up to 30 hours a week working for her credit union and receives only a modest stipend.

She pays her own way to attend meetings and training events, and she’s always looking out for her credit union’s bottom line.

“I do whatever needs to be done to save a penny,” she notes, whether it's sleuthing for the best deal when buying paper or cleaning the credit union office herself.

You’ll also find her creating marketing fliers, providing member services, developing a new website, doing the accounting, and handling the financial reports. And those are just a few of her responsibilities.

Still, she somehow finds time to bake banana bread or apple cobbler for treats for those who stop by the office.

Her dedication to her credit union clearly runs deep.

“This is our home,” she says. “Our credit union serves this community and our members. I just want to help out.”