One Kansas native is heading up a corporate relief effort.
When more than 100 Aaron's Furniture employees were displaced, the company came to the rescue.
"I'm really so proud to work for a company that is taking care of its staff the way Aaron's is," says Harmony Capra-Peddy, "you see them doing what they're doing and how much they really care about these people."
Capra-Peddy works for Aaron's Furniture in Slidell, Louisiana, but she's originally from Osage City, Kansas.
She took refuge in Atlanta with her husband and 16-month old son before Katrina hit.
"We prayed for the best," Capra-Peddy says.
Capra-Peddy and her family lost everything but the contents of a few suitcases.
"All the material things, that's when you realize, they really don't matter," she says.
With nearly 200 employees in the hardest hit areas, Capra-Peddy's company, Aaron Furniture, knew it had to do something.
"The president of our company put aside $200,000 in a fund to be able to help our associates," Capra-Peddy says.
So Capra-Peddy and other associates working from the company's headquarters in Atlanta, headed up an employee relief plan.
"I've just been taking phone calls, one other thing that the president of our company did is he sent out an email to all our stores saying any associate, wherever they end up, they have a job," she says, "I've been finding out where they are, getting relief checks overnighted to them, working on helping them find housing."
Topeka is home to one Aaron's franchise, proud to be a part of the effort.
"For us to be able to take care of our employees, whether it's appliances, furniture or just money so they can get a new home, I think it's really special that we're doing it," says Brian Casebier, a sales manager at Aaron's furniture in Topeka.
Now, only four employees are unaccounted for, and Capra-Peddy says employees are doing what ever they can to help fellow employees.
"Some of them cry, some of them have been in shelters for days and I'm able to say, 'hey, what do you need,' and it's great, because they've really lost hope and I'm able to give them at least a little bit of a glimmer," Capra-Peddy says.
Aaron's associates across the country are chipping in, making donations to the company's relief fund.
Aaron's is also helping other corporations get furniture to their displaced employees.