Credit union outreach during government shutdown draws media coverage

"The goal is to help [members] through all life events, and this is a life event," Cobalt Credit Union's president and CEO Robin Larsen tells Omaha's KETV.As credit unions reach out to members affected by the federal government shutdown with numerous solutions, local news stations are sharing how credit unions are making a difference.

Omaha's KETV highlighted Cobalt Credit Union's relief available to furloughed workers, with President/CEO Robin Larsen telling the station, "the goal is to help [members] through all life events, and this is a life event."

Dakota Dunes, South Dakota-based KCAU covered Siouxland Federal Credit Union offering recovery loans to federal workers, as well as penalty-free certificate withdrawals and loan modifications on a case-by-case basis.

"We thought about it and decided we didn't want to charge them any interest because we know they may be in financial difficulty. Being the credit union we are, we thought we'd be able to offer this and not charge interest, making it a lot less expensive for them to repay," said Siouxland Federal Credit Union President Joel Steenhoven.

WOWT in Nebraska shared the uncertainty for thousands of families at Offutt Air Force Base, and how institutions like Navy Federal Credit Union and Marine Federal Credit Union are offering paycheck advances.

KHON wrote about offerings from Hawaii credit unions, and spoke with Hawaii Credit Union League President/CEO Tim Ashcraft.

"What I'm seeing from our variety of credit unions throughout the islands is that we are looking at being proactive by our members impacted by the by the federal government shutdown… Some of the variety of programs being offered are loan deferment programs on existing loans at the credit union, loan deferrals, loan modifications, anything we can do to make a very uncertain situation more manageable," he said. "Another option that I'm seeing from some of our credit unions [is] that they are offering short term loans where the payments are deferred for up to 90 days, with the hopes that the shutdown doesn't last that long."

Credit unions continue to connect members with solutions to make up for lost paychecks, including special loan products. Veridian Credit Union, which serves members in Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska, is offering interest-free Government Advance Loans or free delayed-payment services to members whose income is impacted by the current government shutdown.

"Missing a paycheck can be a difficult burden," said Kara Van Wert, Veridian's chief lending officer. "Veridian is a member-owned financial cooperative, and we exist to serve the best interests of our members. We're here to help ease the uncertainty for members who are impacted by this shutdown."

Both Congressional Federal Credit Union and U.S. Senate Federal Credit Union have rolled out assistance for Capitol Hill staff, sending direct emails to members. The MD|DC Credit Union Association maintains a list of more than 25 D.C.-area credit unions with information on available assistance.

Leagues are informing members and credit unions on the latest information and resources, including published information from Montana's Credit Unions, Cornerstone League, GoWest Credit Union Association, and The League of Credit Unions.

A recent America's Credit Unions blog entry details how Valley Strong Credit Union moved quickly to prepare as the shutdown approached and was able to launch assistance efforts within hours of funding government expiring.

America's Credit Unions encourages credit unions to share how they're assisting members by completing a survey on its Government Shutdown Assistance page. If you have a government shutdown story to share, contact our communications team.