BATON ROUGE, La.—Roxanne Brown works daily within several steps of Louisiana USA FCU’s boardroom. She always thought the room was a great space for meetings—nice, big and comfortable—but she never thought it would become her place to live.
But that is what the boardroom temporarily became for Brown and five of her family members following the overwhelming floodwaters that struck this city unexpectedly earlier this month.
Louisiana USA FCU's offices.
“Every day is a little better,” said Brown, who is the accounting manager at the $75-million CU. “It has been an ordeal, and it continues.”
Brown and the rest of her family who slept inside the boardroom Sunday, Aug. 14, and the following night are now living at Browns’ home, which suffered only minor damage from the floodwaters. Brown, her husband, her mom and dad, her sister, and Brown’s handicapped brother all stayed at the credit union. The credit union’s main office and annex building, where the boardroom that can accommodate more than 60 people is located, were not affected by the flooding.
“My sister’s home and my mom and dad’s home have been totally lost to the floods,” said Brown, who added those homes are now being gutted. “My home, thankfully, was spared—we only got a little water in one room and we are having to pull up some of the laminate flooring.”
Brown, like many others living in this area that previously was not considered a flood zone, were shocked by the disaster.
“My mom and dad’s home began taking on water Friday (Aug. 12), so I took them into my home on Saturday,” recalled Brown. “Then I get a call from my daughter at 2 a.m. Sunday saying other neighborhoods were flooding. Sunday morning all we did was watch the water rise and eventually reach my home.”
Nowhere Else To Go
Brown said had to evacuate and had been texting back and forth with her CEO, James Foy. He told her the credit union was available to anyone who needed a place to stay.
“We didn’t have anywhere else to go, so I went back to where I work, with just about my entire family this time, and we stayed in the boardroom I pass by every day,” said Brown, who thanked the credit union for the kindness and concern shown to her family and to other employees.
Brown said that friends brought mattresses, sheets and pillows to the credit union.
Louisiana USA FCU's board room.
“I have a cousin who lives 10 minutes away from the credit union and they cooked for us those few days and we took showers there,” said Brown. “The boardroom has a full kitchen so we could make breakfast and lunch if we needed.”
Marketing Manager Kristen Montgomery told CUToday.info that as soon as the flooding began Foy called employees to make sure they knew the credit union was standing by to help and that the credit union was open to any staff member and their family members who needed a place to stay. Montgomery said that policy is part of the credit union’s disaster planning, but that she was unaware of the boardroom being previously used for temporary housing.
Montgomery noted that the credit union was closed Aug. 15 due to employees not being able to make it to work and not having a place to take their kids, with most schools being closed. Louisiana USA opened on Tuesday and provided a babysitting service for staff in the credit union’s training room.
0% Loans Offered
Montgomery said that some employees lost everything from the disaster, and not all had insurance. Louisiana USA is providing staff with 0% interest loans, has reduced loan pricing for emergency loans to members, and is allowing affected members to skip loan payments for three months.
As has been reported nationally about the flooding in Louisiana, most people had little idea trouble was coming.
“This came out of the blue, we just thought it would be heavy rain,” said Montgomery.
“I was shocked,” said Brown. “I have lived in my home for 20 years and my parents more than 40, and we have never seen flooding. We’re getting by, but one day at a time.”
In response to the disaster, the National Credit Union Foundation has activated the online disaster relief system CUAid.coop to raise money for credit union people in Louisiana affected by the flooding.
As donations are posted through CUAid.coop, the Foundation said it will coordinate with the Louisiana Credit Union Foundation in the disaster area to distribute money efficiently to affected credit union employees and members. One-hundred percent of the donations through CUAid goes to credit union disaster relief. In the event that all donations are not used for Louisiana flooding relief, the National Credit Union Foundation will transfer any and all unused funds to its "General Disaster Relief fund" for future disaster relief efforts.
Click here to make a donation.
