Thank you from St. Demetrius Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre

Staff at St. Demetrius Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre ready to face the challenges of working through the COVID-19 crisis

Though COVID-19 has put a big damper on a lot of our community activities, especially sponsorship of various events that have now been cancelled, we continue to do what we can to support our members and the communities we serve.

Recently our board made a donation of $2,000 to the St. Demetrius Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre for the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE). We received a very nice thank you from the Centre which we have published below:

Dear Ukrainian Credit Union Limited
We cannot thank you enough for your support at this unimaginably difficult time for all of us!

As you are aware, long-term care homes are uniquely vulnerable to this disease. COVID-19 will not spare any long-term care home. We do have cases and our staff is doing everything possible to stop the spread of the virus in our Home. Our staff takes care of all the needs of our residents. In addition to providing physical care, we also do everything possible to ease the huge effects of isolation.  Our residents have recreational support and live video chats, connecting residents with their families. Given the lack of technical exposure of our residents, these live video chats are their lifeline to their families.

Thanks to the incredibly persistent efforts of our Director of Nursing, Halya Lyznyk, we were able to get 245 test kits in 2 days, while we were still hearing the news of not enough tests in long-term care. 

In the light of the spread of COVID-19 and the need for enhanced measures in our Home, our need for supplies and equipment has sharply increased and it will continue to grow in the months ahead. 

With this in mind, your donation is going directly towards purchasing of supplies and personal protective equipment which we need so much at this time. 

The fight against COVID-19 has started in our Home.

It is hard and we are bracing for a hard and long battle.

Some describe the situation in long-term care homes as a war zone. We, who come to work here every day, think of our Home for Seniors as a sanctuary, a place where humanity shines and the legacy of the many courageous Ukrainian Canadians who came to Canada after the WW2 continues to live.

From our Ukrainian Canadian seniors, who are entrusted in our care, we have learned the valuable lesson of the importance of faith, perseverance and solidarity to survive in the most adverse circumstances of all.

At this very difficult time, we feel very fortunate to have supporters like you, who reassure us that we are all together in this and in solidarity with each other. And I want to thank you again for your generous support to our residents and staff at the Care Centre.

We are more than happy to mention the Ukrainian Credit Union in our thank you to all of our donors who have supported us during this difficult time.

With kind regards, 

Anna Do

Manager of Development

St. Demetrius Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre

The Centre could use your help as well! IF you want to donate or just learn more about the St. Demetrius Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre, visit their website: www.stdemetrius.ca/.

UCU Collabria Mastercard Financial Relief Bundle

To help manage your expenses during the COVID-19 outbreak a temporary Financial Relief Bundle has been introduced for all UCU Collabria Mastercard holders. UCU Members with UCU Collabria personal or business Mastercards, who are experiencing financial difficulties due to COVID-19, are eligible to apply for the temporary payment relief program.

UCU Collabria Mastercard is providing additional support to all UCU Collabria Mastercard holders and new UCU Collabria Mastercard applicants by offering:

• temporary payment deferrals and reduced interest rates to eligible Members
• increased contactless (tap) credit card transaction limit
• low-interest balance transfers on new UCU Collabria Mastercard applications

Contactless (Tap) Transaction Limits Increased to $250

The contactless tap limit on all UCU Collabria Mastercards has been raised to $250 from $100.

This will give you another cashless payment option for your purchases. It will also minimize your physical contact with payment terminals at grocery stores, pharmacies and anywhere else you may shop - wherever merchants have enabled the acceptance of the higher contactless tap limit.

You can now purchase up to $250 on a single transaction using the tap feature  If your transaction total is greater than $250, then you will be asked to insert your card and use the touchpad to enter your PIN code.

What you need to do:

• no action on your part is required
• your UCU Collabria Mastercard tap limit has been automatically upgraded

Minimum Payment Deferral

UCU Collabria Mastercard minimum payment deferral is available to UCU Collabria cardholders financially impacted by COVID-19.

Eligible cardholders will have their monthly credit card payments waived for up to 3 months with the possibility of extending the minimum payment deferral plan to 6 months if needed. This means if you qualify, you do not have to pay your minimum balance and your credit score will not be impacted as a result of the missed payments.

This is a payment deferral plan, not a payment forgiveness plan. The balance of your unpaid minimum monthly credit card payments will be added to your total credit card balance and you must pay it once the minimum payment deferral plan has ended.

Even though your monthly minimum credit card payments will be deferred, your interest rates will continue to accrue on your outstanding balance. You will have to pay the total interest accrued after your minimum payment deferral plan has ended.

What you need to do:

• contact Collabria Cardholder Services at 1-855-341-4643
• be prepared to discuss your financial situation with Collabria Cardholder Service

Reduced Interest Rate of 10.9%

UCU Collabria Mastercard is introducing a Temporary Interest Rate Reduction option to coincide with the Minimum Payment Deferral plan.

Effective April 13, 2020, all UCU Collabria Mastercards, except those with UCU Collabria Centra Gold or UCU Collabria FlexRate Mastercards, can qualify for a temporary interest reduction of 10.9% for up to 6 months.

UCU Collabria Centra Gold and UCU Collabria FlexRate Mastercards have interest rates lower than 10.9% and are not included in the program. UCU Members with those credit cards are eligible to apply for the minimum payment deferral portion of the financial relief plan only.

Eligible cardholders will have their monthly interest rates reduced to 10.9% for up to 3 months with the possibility of extending the program to 6 months if needed.

What you need to do:

• contact Collabria Cardholder Services at 1-855-341-4643
• be prepared to discuss your financial situation with Collabria Cardholder Services

Balance Transfers on all UCU Collabria Mastercards – Available May 1, 2020 to July 31, 2020

UCU Collabria Mastercard is offering a temporary interest rate of 5.9% on credit card balance transfers from other financial institutions to your personal or business UCU Collabria Mastercard.
Transfer the credit card balance from other credit cards to your UCU Collabria Mastercard and consolidate higher interest rate credit card balances from other financial institutions to a lower UCU Collabria rate of 5.9%.

This offer is available on current or new UCU Collabria Mastercards from May 1, 2020, to July 31, 2020.

What you need to do:

• contact Collabria Cardholder Services at 1-855-341-4643
• be prepared to discuss your financial situation with Collabria Cardholder Services

For more information visit the Collabria website