CUNA News Now: CU employees in limbo as they wait for housing

Get Headlines via Email

NEW ORLEANS (10/17/05)--They laugh about "supporting 15 of your closest relatives." But credit union employees who became displaced during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are in limbo. They're hunting for housing--anything--so they can recover some sense of normalcy to their lives.

Housing is almost impossible to find. Cities of campers, called Ritavilles in Lake Charles, La., have developed in parking lots and campgrounds as far away as Baton Rouge. FEMA modular homes are being transported to the area, but they need infrastructures such as utilities before they can be inhabited.

Even securing accommodations for participants in the Louisiana Credit Union League's media tour of hurricane-stricken credit unions was a challenge, says Alicia Blanda, the league's director of communications. Reporters bunked with various credit unions' staff for three nights. Blanda herself is temporarily living with an aunt in Baton Rouge while the league's office is at its temporary location. Her husband is in Gulfport, Miss. She's one of the lucky ones: her home is repairable, she says.

Click for slide show

New Orleans Firefighters' FCU (NOFFCU) is helping its employees with the housing situation. It isn't pretty, but its employees have what they can call a home base for a few months. "A lot of people still haven't been able to get an adjustor look at their property," said Judy Delucca, CEO of New Orleans Firemen's FCU, which lost a branch and had damage to its main offices.

Of the credit union's 57 employees, 19 lost homes entirely and nine had homes with significant damage. Many lived in St. Bernard's Parish and are just now being let into the area to view the damage.

The credit union began immediately to hunt for housing, says Delucca. She charged Marketing Director Cami Crouchet with the task. Crouchet began contacting apartment buildings immediately to determine vacancies. Because of the housing crisis, many landlords are under "no eviction" orders that may be lifted later this month.

"You think, 'Let's rent a place.' We even looked to purchase a four-plex on the north side of the lake," she said. But the price-gouging already had begun. "Some raised prices on all their units--to almost double what they were before."

NOFFCU leased two houses and purchased trailers under a relocation program. The credit union found a house in Prairieville for one employee's family. It leased a home that now houses seven people--an administrative assistant, her husband, as well as a 90-year-old mother, sister and brother, and son and his fiancee.

The credit union also is housing five or six employees at its St. James location, says Delucca. The credit union bought mattresses, food and water. The credit union has also ordered refrigerators--a three-month wait. One employee's husband put in a shower and installed a washer. Sixteen employees who moved temporarily to its Houston Call Center returned a week ago.

Two single staffers, both women, live upstairs at the credit union's main office--in what used to be the credit union's marketing and business development offices. The accommodations are sparse.

A tour of the accommodations sees a restroom with a stand-alone portable shower. The "apartment" has a keypad lock for security. It has a small living room with a sofa and some tables with attempts to make the rooms look homey. Spot, a large stuffed dalmatian belonging to the credit union's webmaster, guards the premises.

A kitchen has a microwave and a sink. In each bedroom is a neatly made bed--consisting of box springs and a mattress on the floor. In the corner, each has a single suitcase containing the only clothes they have. There's not much else. Housing isn't the only thing the credit union has done. The credit union also:

The credit union noted that the league and the National Credit Union Foundation played a roll in helping its employees.

According to Jonell Nunez, administrative assistant who lost her home, "the $500 grant from the league was really helpful. With it I was able to get a washer and dryer, a refrigerator, some pots and pans. It was really appreciated."

More CU/System