Mellody Hobson: Financial Relief for Evacuees

Sept. 7, 2005— -- Hurricane Katrina may have cost 1 million Americans their jobs this month. Now the thousands of evacuees displaced by the hurricane need jobs, homes and money to pay bills. "Good Morning America" financial contributor Mellody Hobson discussed options available to evacuees and how ordinary Americans can help.

Some Americans devastated by Hurricane Katrina will seek federal subsidies, such as welfare, to get by, but others will turn to their employers.

Several companies have come up with innovative ways to help their employees in this time of crisis. Whole Foods, Starbucks and Wal-Mart are offering employees displaced by the hurricane jobs at any of their other locations.

Starbucks is also matching displaced employees with "foster families" to help ease their transition to a new area. The company is also depositing $500 into the account of its affected employees or giving a debit card to those employees without direct deposit. Wal-Mart is also offering displaced employees $250 in cash, and another $750 when they fill out a form.

The Gulf Coast was a big gaming area, and 6,000 Harrah's employees lost their jobs from Katrina. Harrah's is helping out by paying their employees for the next three months. The company has also set up relief centers in the region.

For evacuees who left behind their checkbooks, ATM cards and other ways to access their bank accounts, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is trying to help out. It has a toll-free, 24-hour hotline to help people get access to their funds: 1-877-ASKFDIC.

The FDIC also said displaced people can open accounts at the local bank branch where they are temporarily living without the usual documentation and paperwork. All the large national banks can then transfer the funds to that location to be withdrawn.

As for credit card companies, Discover, American Express and Citibank are offering payment relief plus emergency replacement cards and emergency PINs. Citibank is also waiving interest and finance fees for three months; American Express is giving a one-month grace period and allowing people to exceed their credit limit by $1,000.