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NCUA Announces Technical Assistance Grant Relief for Low-Income Credit Unions in Federally Designated Disaster Areas Affected by Hurricane Katrina

Alexandria, VA, September 14, 2005 – The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board Chairman JoAnn Johnson announced today the availability of Community Development Revolving Loan Fund (CDRLF) technical assistance grants for disaster relief for low-income credit unions located in the counties and parishes in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi that are designated disaster areas resulting from Hurricane Katrina.

NCUA has allocated $120,000 to this grant initiative. Eligible credit unions may request up to $2,500 for business resumption and rebuilding. The purpose of these grants is to help expedite restoration of financial services to members and communities.

“NCUA is focused on restoring access to credit union service to the thousands of displaced residents, who need their financial partner now more than ever,” said Chairman Johnson. “These funds are available to provide credit unions with additional resources to help them regain full operational status to serve their members.”

Immediate availability of grant funds will help low-income credit unions resume operations and provide services to affected credit union members as soon as possible. Technical assistance is available to assist low-income credit unions that have incurred losses with business resumption, relocation, clean-up, repair, or rebuilding of the credit union’s offices. The main office of the credit union must be located in one of the counties or parishes that were declared a disaster area by President Bush.

The grant application form has been significantly abbreviated to simplify the application process. Grant applications may be obtained at www.ncua.gov, or by contacting NCUA’s Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives at (703) 518-6610.

The National Credit Union Administration is the independent federal agency that regulates, charters and supervises federal credit unions. NCUA, with the backing of the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, operates and manages the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, insuring the deposits of more than 84 million account holders in all federal credit unions and the majority of state-chartered credit unions