Live Better by Centric CU
Monthly Podcast featuring financial tips from Centric Credit Union
Live Better by Centric CU
Rising Above the Storm
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A winter storm shouldn’t decide who eats, who stays warm, or who can afford next month’s rent. When Winter Storm Fern pushed Northeast Louisiana past the breaking point—power out, roads blocked, fridges thawing—we moved fast with our friends at United Way of Northeast Louisiana to meet families where they were and get help into their hands with dignity.
Meghan Jones, United Way’s Director of Marketing and Communications, walks us through the real-time activation: 211 call data lighting up with urgent needs, a wave of applications crossing 11,000 families, and a clear shift from heat to food as the primary crisis. We talk through the unseen failures that compound a storm—medications that require refrigeration, missed wages for hourly workers, and the impossible tradeoffs ALICE families face between groceries, gas, and rent. You’ll hear why direct, flexible aid often beats one-size-fits-all relief and how partnerships keep efforts focused, fast, and free of duplication.
Together with Centric Credit Union, United Way distributed no-cost gift cards so families could buy what mattered most—formula, prescriptions, fuel, food—without red tape or fees. Centric also offered skip-a-pays and emergency loans to ease the financial shock past the first week. Along the way, we share the stories that guided decisions, like a mother trekking for baby formula in the cold, and the grit of teams working from generators and car chargers to keep 211 and outreach online. Recovery doesn’t end when the lights return; debris, displacement, and budgets need time to heal.
If you want to help, you can text FAMILYRELIEF to 91999, donate at unitedwayneela.org, or stop by 1201 Hudson Lane in Monroe. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who cares about community resilience, and leave a review with one insight you’re taking forward—your support helps more neighbors find the help they need, faster.
Welcome back to the Live Better Podcast. Today's episode is a special one because we're talking about something that truly defines our community, how we show up for each other in a time of crisis. When winter storm fern hit northeast Louisiana, families across our region faced freezing temperatures, power outages, and unexpected financial strain. But in the middle of those challenges, we saw something powerful: coordination, compassion, and collaboration. I'm joined today by Meghan Jones. She's the Director of Marketing and Communications at United Way of Northeast Louisiana. We'll talk about how United Way mobilized during the storm, the impact those efforts had on local families, and how a partnership with Cindric helped provide no-cost gift cards to community members in need. Well, Meghan, I'm so excited, one, to have you here today. I mean, you've been a friend of mine for, oh gosh, probably 12 years now at this point. We've kind of raised ourselves side by side. Yeah, so about so it's been a minute. I didn't really think about the the time, you know, that we've been connected uh with our families until really we're just starting to think about that this morning. But it's just an honor to have you here. Um I'm so grateful for the work you do with United Way. And um I know that we have a personal relationship, but I would love for you just to share with our listeners a little bit about who you are. Um tell us a little bit about what you do every day.
Meghan Jones:Oh goodness, a day in the life of Meghan Jones. Um so uh like you said, I'm the director of marketing and communications at United Way of Northeast Louisiana. Um, but first and foremost, I'm a wife and I'm a mom. Um I'm married to Dr. Bryce Jones. He is at ULM, and we have three beautiful children, Hadley, Leighton, and Carter. They are 13, 11, and 9, and it's birthday season in the Jones House, so we're all about to turn a year older. Oh wow. So 14, 12, and 10. Um, so yeah. So time time flies. Time flies.
Kelli Green:Oh. So, you know, in managing the household even in itself, and then you throw this Winter Storm Fern into everything, it was an exciting, maybe even challenging time.
Speaker:It was really a taxing week and a just a wild week. I think for everybody. I I have yet to come across one person that we know in this area who was untouched. I mean, we were all affected. Um, in the Jones house, you know, I'm with United Way. So when disaster strikes, and this was a disaster, we are in, we we move into action. We mobilize at United Way. And so I have to work no matter what is going on. So connectivity issues, whatever, I have to problem solve, and and that's just what we do at United Way. And I and I love that we do that um because
Meghan Jones:you have to have people who show up. That's right. Um, but with Bryce, you know, ULM was not um, you know, removed from the disaster either. So he had a bit of a crisis going on and they had students to care for. Right. And so he had to step in as well, along with a lot of other staff. And so we had kind of our personal crisis going on at home. We had a little bit of flooding. Um on the first day of the storm, we had no power for seven days. We had three children to take care of and keep warm. And we also had to try to find ways to creatively work and and get, you know, the work done. And he had to get to campus, and it was just it was all kind of issues popping up every day. And we got to the end of the week and I was like, this has been exhausting.
Kelli Green:Yes. This is like, I think honestly, when we're reflecting on it, I don't think that we will um we will ever forget it. I think this is something we'll tell our grandchildren about. Um, because you're right, I I too have yet to find someone who is untouched or impacted in any sort of way. Um it was it was it was a scary time uh for us too, you know. We had the flooding situations, um our roof actually in three different spots, and then it turned into five different places, you know. But the thing is we were very fortunate, of course, we didn't have power or what have you, but we were able to keep warm. Yeah. And that was the biggest thing. And so one of the things that I was so grateful for is that our family was just like, okay, what can we do and how can we serve? And so that's kind of the same way, you know, someone's got to stand up, someone's got to rise up and serve. And so that's what I love so much about our community is that everyone, you know, all of us in our household, we're going and taking care of some of our neighbors. You know, if there's trees down, we had to go take care of that. Um, even if you got an extra bowl of soup, you know, you just share those things. And people did the same thing for us. And anyway, it's just there's a the benefits I think of living in a smaller town. Um when crisis uh arises, you know, you don't really have to worry so much. I mean, sure it's gonna present immediately you think, oh gosh, what now? But we're very fortunate. We are. We're really, really fortunate. And so I'm very grateful for you know, for the partnerships like what Centric has with United Way to understand that there is a crisis, there is a need, and how do we mobilize and make things happen? So I'll just get right into it. So, you know, I know we've shared some of the things with us as far as the immediate needs that we had, but specifically, were there something or were there specific needs that you saw within the community when they reached out to United Way? What were some of those immediate needs and how did you come to the decision of we've got to, you know, raise funds and ways in which that we can really provide for our community?
Meghan Jones:Yeah, um, in terms of a timeline, um, kind of approaching it as a timeline, you know, initially it was warmth because we had some really bitterly cold temperatures and we had families who did not have that source of warmth. Like you, we we were fortunate we have a gas log fire place. It was a little scary. We had our CO monitors through the house just to make sure, you know, no carbon monoxide and all those things. But we did have a source of warmth, and we were so grateful to that. But so many families did not. And it was bitterly cold. You're talking families with children, families, you know, with seniors or seniors living alone, yes, um, disabled, um, a host of issues that make a disaster like that that much harder to cope with and to to deal with a problem solve. Um, so that was sort of, you know, problem number one for so many families, but it very quickly escalated to a food issue because so many families did not have generators or a way to keep their food preserved, and so they lost everything. And so, as you know as well, there was a shortage because we had a lot of like delivery trucks and things like that that could not get to the our stores. We also had families who couldn't get to stores. Right. And so many roads were impassable, blocked by trees. Um, there's it was just it was a compounded issue, that's right, issue upon issue. And really what we saw was not just a winter weather event, we saw a systems failure in our area that that affected almost every single part of our livelihood. Oh, yeah. And, you know, kudos to, you know, first responders and our government officials and everybody our nonprofits, everybody who stepped up to do what they could because whenever you have a widespread systems failure like that, it's it's nearly impossible to respond to all of the needs that are popping up everywhere. Yeah. But I do feel like, you know, we have neighbors helping neighbors in this community. So that goes a long way. It does. Um but people really stepped up. So but yeah, the the food became just the the predominant need.
Kelli Green:Right. So, you know, there there were so many things. You talked about, you know, the compounding issues. There were, I mean, you just you name it. We experienced it. Um, you know, we're not prepared really and truly. I mean, we never really experience, well, I won't say never, but it's rare that we have, you know, temperatures this way. And then, of course, too, you know, the mobility issues, there's just you name it. Um, so just kind of in that particular vein, you know, for so many people, disaster response looks simple, you know, um, but it's really anything but that. So kind of walk us through this activation. What did that really look like behind the scenes at United Way when something, when this particular situation happened and you identified, well, okay, we might need um to provide financial assistance. What what did that look like as far as identifying who might need help and how do you facilitate those funds type thing? Yeah.
Meghan Jones:So um we've been through a few disasters over the past several years. Um, our whole community has, but United Way certainly has responded to a host of disasters since 2020. Right. Um, and you know, I started at United Way in 2020, so I've lost count at this point, but we just have had, you know, we've really been hit in this community. Um, and so, you know, for us at United Way, our first front line is 211. So 211 is that free call 24-7. It's an information and referral service that we provide to the community. It's free of cost. And so you can call at any time, Christmas morning at 8 a.m., you call and you're gonna talk to a real person. Right. Um, so but what we started seeing was like a lot of urgent needs pouring in, as you can imagine. And we talked about that a little bit. But um, and so our leadership team at United Way began looking at that and realizing the needs that were popping up and how quickly they were spreading and becoming more and more urgent to the point of a crisis. And so, you know, we had seniors who had lost their medication that was necessary for survival because they couldn't refrigerate it. You know, you've got issues like that that you don't really think about, you know, at first glance, but but they're there and and they become more and more of a crisis as time goes on and the clock's ticking, right? And so what we do in times of disaster is, you know, we're we're getting information from 211 about sort of the pulse of the community and what's going on. Right. Um, but we also begin having conversations about okay, what gaps need to be filled? What gaps are already being filled by other entities across the community? How can we come in and fill those, you know, remaining gaps? What what what are the greatest needs? And so um, how do we prevent duplication? That's another big one for us. We are we are best at partnering. So we have a lot of great community partnerships. Um we're not about duplication. So um, so that was another thing that we considered. But what we realized very quickly was the best way and the way to help people with the most dignity was to put resources into their hands in a safe um and convenient way, right? So that they can address whatever need is most pressing for them. And sometimes you don't even know that right away. You know, we we have families who, you know, are okay, we're we're able to replace our food, but that's gonna mean that we can't pay our rent in a couple of weeks. You know, those sort of things that that sort of snowball into a bigger and bigger and bigger issue. So, and and the population that we decided to help is Alice. And I think you know about our Alice research, it's asset limited, income constrained, employed. Right. So Alice is hardworking. Alice shows up for work every day, provides for their family to the best of their ability, but they're living generally one paycheck away from a disaster. Right. Um and by disaster I mean homelessness, going without food, not being able to meet basic needs for survival. Right. And so this was that disaster for so many Alice families. Oh, yeah.
Kelli Green:You know, it's interesting that you talk about Alice families. Um, here at Centric, we are a CDFI. What does that mean? It's a community development financial institution that does serve underserved families, and that is Alice. You're right. There are people who show up, but they still aren't able to make, you know, means for just everyday life. And so one choice or the other impacts another. And so when you're making a choice between, you know, keeping your lights on versus keeping your family fed, these are real life circumstances that these families are dealing with month after month. It's not just, well, you know, Christmas came around or it's back to school. No, no, this is reality. You know, and when you think of you bring in winter storm, then that's another compounding issue, as you've mentioned, is it's just a disaster. And a lot of times too, families are it they're scared to ask. Oh yeah. You know, they don't know how to ask. And so, you know, where to go for help. And I'm very fortunate in our community that 211 is available to take and understand, you know, take their calls and and understand what's happening. But they also, you know, you guys at United Way know, well, what can we do and who can we work with to make this crisis we can turn this into something positive. That's right. And so those are the things that I'm I'm really grateful for, partnerships with United Way. Um, we we too had to identify what we recognized that there was a need, and what are the best ways that we might be able to get those funds into the hands of these individuals who need to provide for basic needs, you know, for their families. So I'm very grateful that um that you guys reached out to us. Um, this partnership that for those of you who are listening and watching, um, what we're able to do is the the vetting process of whom you know actually receives those funds, that is all taken care of and managed through United Way. Right. And one thing that we've been able to do is just to provide those gift cards, basically, those are free of charge. There's no cost at all to United Way or to the recipients of those. And um we work with you guys to just distribute those as you see fit. And um we're very proud of that. And we're very proud to be able to be in Avenue to offer that um that particular free service. Because when you think about things, when you work with a credit union, it's important that people realize that we are the folks that are sitting beside you at a ball game. We are the person right beside you that might also be struggling to make ends meet. Um, we're a little bit different than other financial institutions in the way that we serve members. So we modified um loan products, we provided skip-a-pays for their loans that were due at no cost. So typically when you would pay a short fee for those when you apply for a skip-a-pay, but um even you know, through that whole time period and beyond, you know, there's no cost to say, hey, raise your hand, I need some help. That's right. Um, and so those are those are things you don't often see in financial institutions. We've you it reenacted, as you've mentioned, since 2020. Our area has really experienced just catastrophe, disaster, not a disaster. And so we've re-engaged our emergency loan, which we're very excited about. There's really no limitations to that. It's just if you experience a loss due to winter storm fern, then let's talk with you to see what we can do, you know, to like you've mentioned, we want to put resources in your hands to say, hey, let's help you. How can we serve you best? Right. And so that's, you know, I I will say it again. Um, I'm actually from a small town. I'm not from here, um, but a small town very similar to, you know, are the area that we serve. But there is so much to be said for community partnerships and for the people that we live and breathe right next to who will roll up their sleeves that will work around the clock to say, Hey, what do you need? Yeah, how can we serve you? Yeah. Um, much like you guys, you know, we're saying your folks with 211 answering the call. Well, we were answering our chat, you know, we were answering different people when they say, Hey, I've got a couple minutes, you know, I've been able to charge my phone. Yeah. Or charge, you know, an iPad or something like that. You know, we just want to check in, what can we do? How can you serve us? Because we need access to this. Um, down to even telling, you know, sharing with people where can you go and, you know, fill up your gas tanks, you know, or do you know someone that, hey, well, this person's on their way, why don't you let us, you know, meet up with you so you don't have to, you know, travel as far. So going above and beyond is really about um it's what not for profits. And centric is just that as well. We're we don't exist for a profit, we exist to serve, much like United Way. And that's what we're here to do. Um, regardless of the disaster, regardless of the time of day, um we're here. We know that needs will arise. That's just what life does. And and how we respond is something people will always remember.
Meghan Jones:Relationships are everything. Yeah. And relationships build trust. Yes. And trust is what matters whenever, you know, down the line you have something else or a life event or something come up. And so um, yeah, I mean, I we have so many community partners like centric who are here every single day, but also and and even more importantly, during disaster. And we had, you know, our 2 11 call center director was working exclusively from a generator. Yes. And so, you know, all of our staff were working from vehicles, charging phones, doing whatever we could to just make it work. And and it wasn't just United Way. Yeah. So there were so many um, you know, of our counterparts and and colleagues and partners across the region who would be doing just the same thing. That's exactly right.
Kelli Green:So that's this community is incredibly special. And I think it's it's probably I'm I don't know that we could find one that's super comparable to just what we're able to do and how people just stepped up and served, even in the midst of their own crisis. They said, Okay, this can wait. There's a greater need. That's right. And that is the ultimate, I think, selflessness, you know, that is just so special. So in really talking about this, I'm sure you you m you may even have some different stories and so forth that really, as you you think about this, you know, is there anything that really stood out to you um in the midst of this circumstance that that made you think, well, I am so proud to do what I do every day?
Meghan Jones:Oh, yes. The we the the stories were plentiful um and and hard, honestly. It was hard to digest those as they kind of came across, you know, my radar. Um, and I know many of our team felt the same, but you know, one earlier on in the storm, um, actually near where I live, um I was working, but I mean I was, you know, at home doing kind of crisis control there as well. And um, we had a a young woman who was walking down Arkansas Road and she was crying, and we were able to see or or assess that she was trying to get formula for her baby. She'd run out, um, she did not have water, she did not have power, she was a single mother, five month old, um, and she was trying to find formula. And she, you know, I think a tree had like her limb or something had fallen on her car, but you know, her road was also impassable, so just walking on foot. And so, you know, s there were neighbor neighbors and things like that that were able to connect her to some help immediately. Um, but then also some longer term stuff that got mobilized. But um, you know, just stories like that as a mom really gripped me because I can feel what it might feel like to be in that situation. Um, we had seniors, like I mentioned, who had lost their medication and their food. Um, and these are critical medications, right? You know, not just things that you can go without or skip or whatever, um, that must be refrigerated. And so replacing things like that, replacing food. Um, we saw a lot of single parents who went without wages for an entire week. Oh, yeah. And you know what that does to a budget at a time whenever costs are also going to be higher than normal, right? But also at a time whenever you've lost your food and you've got little kids or or big kids or whatever to keep fed and keep um healthy and prepared for what they need to do. And so those kind of stories were very um very poignant, and they really spoke to just how much of an impact this winter storm had on our area and on families, but especially Alice families. Oh, yes. Um, that that missing that week of work is devastating on its own, right? Even without the other issues.
Kelli Green:And I think we will we'll still, you know, I mean, we're here in the middle of February, we're only just a few weeks post, you know, Winter Storm Fern. But I think that we will still, I mean, you drive up and down our roadway and you can still see the destruction. It's almost as if a hurricane has come through, really and truly. For sure. Um and I think that we in in our area, we will continue to see, you know, maybe even families who are impacted with this from for a longer period of time. I mean, this will take months for people to really recover from it. And so I'm very grateful. You spoke about our local officials and then at the state level, federal level, who really said, hey, this is a disaster. This is now a named, you know, storm. And that in itself is very helpful for those when they're pr you know, preparing to file claims to restore their homes. I mean, there's many people now that are still displaced, yeah, living in and out of, you know, um hotels at this point are living with friends because their home is just uninhabited. So that it is just is unbelievable. I I don't think people really understand it unless they're here because it's just hard to tell a story. And people think, well, gosh, other parts of the country get this type of weather often. Well, it's a little different circumstance. Not equipped here.
Meghan Jones:That's exactly right. That's why I said systems failure. That's exactly right. We just had a widespread systems failure. And, you know, to speak to the need, you know, within from a marketing standpoint, we activated our response um logistically on Saturday, uh you know, the Saturday after sort of at the tail end of. The storm and within the first two hours we had over 2,000 applications come in. It's unreal. We're now um over eleven thousand. I haven't looked today, but it's still climbing. And so the need is great. And those are families, not individuals. Yes. It's one one application per family. And so that's a great need for a community our size.
Kelli Green:You know, and speaking about that, that you are still accepting applications uh for this disaster relief fund, essentially. So I know there may be listeners and viewers who think, I want to support this effort. Yes. So would you mind sharing with them how they may be able to plug in just to support not necessarily maybe this particular you know circumstance, but in the future, how might they be able to contribute?
Meghan Jones:For sure. So for this, for the family relief effort that we launched at United Way, if you want to give back, you can text. There's a keyword, text family relief, all one word to 91999. Or if you prefer, you can go online to our website, unitedwayneela.org. Um it's front and center right there. You'll see exactly what you need to do to be able to donate online. Or you can come by our office. We're on Hudson Lane in Monroe, 1201 Hudson Lane, and you can bring a payment by and contribute that way. Um, but if you know you want to support United Way ongoing, we have a lot of ways to plug in. We have an amazing donor base because we have an amazing community. Yes. Um we also have amazing volunteers. So we always say time, talent, treasures. Oh, you don't have to give dollars to be able to support an effort like what United Way does. Sure. Um you can volunteer. We have a lot of great volunteer opportunities. Um, but we do workplace campaigns. So if you've got a workplace and you're not running a United Way campaign, reach out to us. So we'd love to get you plugged in. Um, so just there are so many different ways to get to get involved. I love it.
Kelli Green:Thank you for sharing those resources. Uh I know that that is very, very important. I mean, there's just the like you mentioned, the time, talent, and your treasures. I think that is beautiful because we all have something that we can give. Yeah. And we are incredibly blessed. And just as our community has really risen to this occasion, I know they will rise again. And we will all rise from this circumstance. So, Megan, thank you so much for being our guest today on our Live Better podcast. This is really great. Um always love an opportunity when friendships can kind of overlap into the professional world. And I'm thankful for the organizations that we work for, United Way and Centric coming together for such a great cause. So thank you so much. Thank y'all.
Meghan Jones:The the partnership is helping families. And so that that really means a lot.
Kelli Green:Yes. Well, thanks again. Thank you. Appreciate you being here. Megan, thank you for the work you and your team do every single day, and especially during moments like Winter Storm Fern when leadership and coordination matter most. At Centrit, we believe financial well-being and community well-being go hand in hand. Partnerships like this allow us to respond quickly, remove financial barriers, and ensure families receive support with dignity and flexibility. And as always, thank you to our listeners for being part of a community that shows up when it matters most. Here's to Living Better with Centric. Centric Credit Union is federally insured by the NCUA. Relief efforts and community partnerships discussed in this episode are part of Centric's ongoing commitment to community support and financial well being. This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.