A growing number of credit unions nationwide are prepared tohelp members navigate financial hardship caused by thesequestration.

Barring last-minute action by Congress, the sequester and itsautomatic budget cuts and possible furloughs, can begin lateFriday. Some workers could see their paychecks cut by as much as20%, with a one-day-per week furlough.

Randolph-Brooks in Live Oak, Texas, and APGin Edgewood, Md., said they will offer assistance to members whomay be affected by sequester-related budget cuts.

Qualifying members at Randolph-Brooks, which has $5.3 billion inassets and more than 416,000 members, can withdraw funds from CDswithout paying penalties and can take advantage of interest-freeloans, with no payment due until December.

Aberdeen Proving Ground, or APG, with assets of $936 million and98,000 members, said it will provide members with loan assistance,expedited approvals and free financial advice.

“By providing resources to assist members dealing withsequestration, we hope to make their lives and finances a littleless stressful,'' said Mark Sekula, chief lending officer forRBFCU. ''While we can't affect government decisions on payments andfurloughs, we can give our members tools to handle a suddendecrease in pay, to make the next several months moremanageable.''

Also joining in:

• The $268 million, 68,000-member CPM FCU in North Charleston, S.C., will offer membersdirectly affected by job furloughs one-time only unsecured personalloans equal to one month's pay, up to $2,000 at 3% APR, with nopayments for the first 90 days. Qualifying members must have directdeposit, and can also receive help with loan modification ordue-date extensions. In addition, CPM members affected by joblayoffs can make penalty-free withdrawals on CDs.
• Northwest Federal Credit Union in Herndon, Va., will provideloans up to $10,000 at zero-percent interest for any members whomay be affected by government layoffs. Northwest, with $2.5billion in assets and 126,000 members, also will waive earlywithdrawal penalties on CDs.
• Tobyhanna Federal Credit Union, Scranton, Pa, with 22,000members and $166 million in assets, will offer furloughed membersloans of up to $7,000 at no interest, and the option to skip up tofour payments on existing loans without penalties.
• Belvoir Federal Credit Union in Woodbridge, Va., with $299million in assets and 27,000 members, said it would offerlow-interest emergency loans and penalty-free skipped loan paymentoptions to furloughed members.