Daily Real Estate News  |  October 17, 2005  |   NAR Offers Free Counseling to Hurricane Victims The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORSŪ is offering free, confidential counseling to all REALTORSŪ, staffs of state and local REALTORŪ associations, and their families affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll released last week found that roughly 60 percent of 1,510 Hurricane Katrina victims surveyed said they had trouble sleeping and felt depressed, and about two-thirds reported feeling anxiety. The poll was conducted in cooperation with the American Red Cross and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. NAR is offering the free counseling sessions at the request of state and local REALTORŪ associations in the affected areas of the U.S. Gulf Coast. NAR will cover the costs of all the counseling sessions, which will be provided through LifeEra, its employee assistance program vendor, to hurricane victims in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. Each REALTORŪ, association staff, or family member can receive up to five free counseling sessions either in-person or by phone, as well as additional sessions to cover legal issues (a free 30-minute consultation with an in-state attorney and a 25 percent discount on ongoing representation) or financial issues (up to 60 minutes of free telephone consultation on financial issues). NAR anticipates that approximately 10,000 REALTORSŪ can benefit from this program. It sent out a blast e-mail last week to members, identified as residing in the ZIP codes affected by the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast, and will send out a letter in the mail today. Association executives have told NAR that snail mail is the only reliable way to communicate with their affected members because not all members currently have online access but they have forwarded their postal mail to wherever they are currently living. Those interested in taking advantage of the counseling sessions can contact LifeEra 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 1-866-828-6050. When you call, identify your affiliation with NAR and your state. You also can access information online at liveandworkwell.com. Enter NAR's access code: 00634. If you have any difficulty reaching LifeEra or have questions about the program, contact NAR at 1-800-874-6500. —REALTORŪ Magazine Online