Claire Ippoliti

By Joyce Moed, Reporter

PHILADELPHIA, Pa.–Claire Ippoliti, vice president of lending for the Philadelphia Federal Credit Union, recently spent one week volunteering in the 9th Ward to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. She did this as part of the credit-union motto “People Helping People.”

The ironic aspect of Ippoliti’s trip is the last-minute change in plans. Ippoliti was originally intending to volunteer at the Buras, La. site. However, when she landed in the New Orleans airport, she learned that the Buras site had forgotten she was coming, so she ended up at the 9th Ward site for the day until some from the Buras site could pick her up.

“I decided to stay in the 9th Ward since there was a greater need for volunteers,” Ippoliti said. “One of the things I have learned as I have gotten older is the best made plans go by the wayside when life happens.”

Upon her return, the Credit Union Journal asked Ippoliti about her experience.

CU Journal: What are victims still in need of now, almost two years after Hurricane Katrina?

Ippoliti: The victims are still in need of many things. For example, many live without electricity, phone or water service. I believe this has to do with where they are in the process of reconstructing their homes. Many are living in gutted-out shells because they are still waiting for the funds to rehab the home. Some of the residents told me that they were so grateful for the meals since they were unable to cook in their own homes.  

CUJ: I understand that you volunteered with Emergency Communities recently. What did you do during this time?

Ippoliti: I prepared food for the three meals day, served meals to the residents, cleaned up the kitchen and washed dishes.  We were up at 6 am to start the process and ended at about 8 pm.  

CUJ: Please tell me about the "People Helping People" motto.  

Ippoliti: I met many volunteers while working at Emergency Communities. The people were diverse and dedicated individuals. Throughout the week we had Americor volunteers come help out as well as folks coming for the day to help out while in the French Quarter for a conference. At any point you would see young, older (this would be the category I fit into), hippie, conservatives all working together for a common cause. To me that was very similar to the credit union motto of People Helping People.

CUJ: What did you notice during your week of volunteering?

Ippoliti: Well, I noticed so much. What I noticed most was the interaction among the residents that came into the community center. Emergency Communities is located in a high-crime area. Some of the younger kids–13 to 14–would start trouble at the center. What I noticed was that the older residents never corrected the younger residents; they may whisper something to me or one of the other volunteers but never to the kids.  

Also, my first day there we were driving to the site of the community center.  Among the devastation I noticed a funky art formation in the center of a road; the cement foundation was brand new. It looked odd and out of place, so I asked the site manager of the community center what it was. He told me that they built a memorial and said that the residents were upset because they could not get basic services and yet they were able to have this memorial build. Talk about prioritizing.

CUJ: How do you feel now that you are back?

Ippoliti: Grateful for what I have and empowered to try to do more.  

CUJ: What have you done since you are back? Have you spoken to the credit union about your experience and what can still be done to help?

Ippoliti: I sent in my application to volunteer in January after watching the Spike Lee documentary “When the Levees Broke.” I took vacation time and was not thinking in terms of what I will do when I get back. I thought I have the time and resources, I can help out.

In April I went through the Credit Union Development Educators (CUDE) training program. We spent six intensive days collectively looking at ways credit unions can help with 12 developmental issues in the world. (Three issues are hunger, housing and health.) So, while working in the lower 9th I started to ask the residents if there was a credit union in the area. (There was not.) I could see how some of the ideas we discussed in the training program would actually help these residents, (health literacy programs, offering access to credit). The day I was back to work a heated e-mail discussion ensued about Louisiana, the 9th ward and whether these communities should be rebuilt. To make a long story short, I did some research and through Clifford Rosenthal, executive director of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, found out that ASI FCU in Louisiana helped spin off a new nonprofit, A Shared Initiative Inc., to play a bigger part in the rebuilding effort in the 9th ward. A Shared Initiative Inc. is dedicated to affordable housing and providing access to vital community services that would help more of the credit union members return home. A Shared Initiative Inc. is in the process of building a community center on St. Claude in the upper 9th ward and it will house a credit union. Emergency Communities is also located on St. Claude but in the lower 9th ward.