CWA Disaster Relief Fund Help for Affected Members and Retirees

CWA members who wish to apply for disaster relief should contact one of the locals listed below for help, even if it is not their home local.

Because of hurricane damage to some CWA local offices and the relocation of many members and retirees displaced from their homes, we have set up these locals as access points for people to apply for and receive help from the CWA Disaster Relief Fund. Members and retirees who are relocated to the listed cities and are in financial need due to loss of essential items in the hurricane should contact the local or staff office.  Regardless of what local you belong to, please contact a local on the list. If possible before visiting the local, download and fill out the Disaster Relief Claim Form:

http://files.cwa-union.org/Community/DisasterReliefClaimForm.pdf 

These locals have volunteered their offices and staff to help. Please remember that some locals may have only one or two people working, so it's a good idea to call or e-mail in advance to check their availability. Local officers and/or CWA staff will:

• Verify Membership
• Assist with Eligibility Verification -- Using the Established Guidelines of the Fund
• Process claims
• Assist with Immediate Financial Aid from the Disaster Relief Fund

Members and retirees should be accessing resources provided by FEMA for items such as home repair and temporary housing funds when possible.  FEMA help can be accessed online at http://www.fema.gov/about/process and claims can be sent electronically or by phone.  Information on vaccines and other health and safety information can be found at the Center for Disease Control website at http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/katrina.asp#shelters .

AFA-CWA members should work with their MEC EAP Chairs if they are not able to get to one of the locals or staff offices listed above.  Other members and retirees who are not able to get to one of the locals or staff offices should contact Janine Brown, CWA Representative for Women's Activities and Community Service at jbrown@cwa-union.org or (202) 434-1149 or Booker Lester, District 3 Administrative Assistant based in Atlanta, at blester@cwa-union.org or (404) 296-5553. 

If we have significant numbers of members needing help in other cities we will ask other locals to assist.  We are trying to reach additional locals in Mississippi and Louisiana that may be up and running to aid members and retirees.  As soon as we have this information, we will send it out. 

The CWA Disaster Relief Fund is a 501(c)(3) fund established to aid CWA members, retirees and their immediate families (dependents) with loss of essential items uncompensated or otherwise un-reimbursed due to natural loss.  Donations to the CWA Disaster Relief Fund are being accepted online or by mail.  Click here for information on how to make a donation.

Verizon employees and retirees who contribute to the CWA Disaster Relief Fund are eligible to receive matching funds by using a form on the Verizon Foundation web page: https://foundation.verizon.com/donor/ .  After you register or sign in, you should find

Communications Workers of America Disaster Relief Fund, Tax ID: 5222128973

listed and you fill out the form "Matching Incentive Program Coupon."