When Father Roger Labonte, pastor of St. Paul of the Cross Parish in La Mirada, heard about the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, his first concern was for the families that evacuated with no place to go.

Instead of asking parishioners for monetary donations, he thought a better way to make a long-term difference would be to help one of the many families displaced by the hurricane who had come to California to start a new life.

The parish formed a Hurricane Katrina Committee and, through Catholic Charities, found Schewon Kelly, who lived here with her two oldest daughters, two young grandsons and son-in-law in a one-room shelter.

After a long apartment search, the parish moved Kelly into a fully furnished, three-bedroom townhouse. Now that she's settled, she can finally be reunited with her two youngest children who stayed with her sister in Chicago until Kelly found a home. The high school students will be attending St. Paul High School, tuition-free, for a year. Kelly will start job training in January as a pharmacy technician.

"I went to someone like the church and they had a great solution," Kelly said. "They are giving me a chance to get my world together."

Archdiocesan-wide help

According to Catholic Charities Los Angeles, Inc., St. Paul of the Cross Church is one of more than 30 parishes in the archdiocese that are still working to help individual families rebuild their lives. The agency is assisting more than 590 people from 241 families displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Irene Hill, director of parish and community services, said that most parishes that have adopted families are paying their rent from six months to a year. Some parishes are also furnishing apartments, donating cars, providing household goods and supplying food. Other parishes with schools are offering scholarships to displaced students for a year or longer.

"The parishes have taken them up under their wing," Hill said of the parishes. "It has really been a blessing."

According to Msgr. Gregory A. Cox, executive director, the number of evacuees who have come to the Los Angeles area is even higher --- more than 5,000 families. Mgsr. Cox said the long-term commitment of caring that parishes give is more healing than goods, food or shelter.

"You can go to many agencies and get the material needs, but it is nice if your spiritual and communal needs are met as well," he said. "We are working together through the parishes, the archdiocese and Catholic Charities to provide that."

Care from the Cathedral

After Katrina, parishioners at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles also wanted to help. Msgr. Kevin Kostelnik, pastor, asked Gus Catipon, director of the outreach program, about adopting a family displaced by the hurricane.

Through Catholic Charities they found Audrey and Jack Forte, parents of one of their parishioners, Pam Porter.

The Fortes, 72 and 81 years old, raised five children in their New Orleans home of more than 30 years. Leaving their house on the eve of the hurricane with just a toothbrush and a change of clothes, the Fortes thought they would be returning within a day.

"It was an experience I wouldn't wish on anyone," Audrey said. "We lost everything."

When the parishioners found out about their new adopted family, they filled the Fortes house with all the items necessary for a home --- kitchen items, towels, bed sheets and canned goods.

Audrey said that the parish also supplied them with a television, a table and chairs and a bed. One of the parishioners even made gumbo for the Fortes' moving day.

"We put a notice in the bulletin and people were so excited to help," Catipon said. "The whole cathedral parish is involved, especially the staff."

Forte said that both members of the cathedral and Catholic Charities come often "to check on them."

"The parish has been wonderful to us," she said. "Gus is my angel. I pray for him every day."

"I have been helping with the outreach for seven years, but this one is different," Catipon said. "These are God's people that we are doing it for."

Banding together

When the hurricane hit New Orleans, Josephite Father Robert Kearns, pastor of St. Brigid Parish in South Los Angeles, was in Boston, but he knew that something had to be done immediately. He sent a fax to his parish manager, Cheryl Pyles, asking her to take up a collection, to call people to prayer and to challenge them to come up with ideas to offer help beyond monetary donations.

Both he and his deacon separately thought of offering the house that the parish owns on an adjacent property to a family displaced by the hurricane. As Father Kearns says, "When two people think of the same idea, it's God's work."

The parish formed a Hurricane Katrina committee and began doing an assessment on the three-bedroom house and found it needed $25,000 worth of repairs --- painting, replacing windows and locks, new flooring, carpeting, windows and appliances. Additional cabinets in the kitchen, a new living room set and dining room table were also needed.

Lee Modster, an interior designer, offered to serve as the project manager and with her help and donation of supplies and professional help from parishioners, the cost came down to $10,000.

Many parishioners pitched in and painted, installed the windows and sanded the floors. Members of the Hispanic Community worked on the exterior of the house and finished landscaping. Two couples from Our Lady Queen of the Angels Church in Newport Beach volunteered to tile and re-grout the bathroom, install a medicine cabinet and finish one of the bedrooms. The six-member Hurricane Katrina committee set up a gift registry for each room in the house.

The committee chose Dawn Evans and her three children to live in the home. The Evans family fit the criteria perfectly and had been living in a hotel while searching for housing.

"As a community we all agreed on them because there were younger kids," Pyles said.

More than 350 people attended the blessing Mass on Dec. 4. Evans stood up at the ambo with her family and thanked the parish for helping them.

After Mass, parishioners processed over to the house, led by a "Second Line" (a New Orleans parade tradition led by men from the parish dressed in tuxedos with multicolored ties, top hats and carrying umbrellas). Two choirs dressed in red and yellow robes followed along with the parishioners. After the blessing, parishioners presented the family with a golden key to the house.

The Christmas Scripture from Luke's Gospel, Father Kearns noted, is about "no room at the inn" for Mary and Joseph. "I like to think that there is room at the inn at St. Brigid's," he smiled.

'A stronger sense of community'

At St. Paul of the Cross Church, after helping Schewon Kelly, Father Labonte met Stepane and Soledad Akli and learned that they, too, had no permanent residence. The Aklis also had lost everything, though Stephane was able to transfer his job at U.S. Gypsum, to their California factory. They had been staying at a hotel paid by FEMA and were unsuccessful in finding a place to live.

In mid-December, Donna Ponce, the pastor's assistant, found the Aklis a new apartment that parishioners have helped them to furnish. Catholic Charities agreed to pay the deposit and the first-and second-month rent. The Aklis' 10-year-old daughter is now attending the parish elementary school.

"I think it built a stronger sense of community," Ponce said of the project.

Kelly, too, said she enjoys meeting the parishioners and attends weekly Mass at St. Paul. She said she is now ready to move on and start a new life.

"I've learned not to dwell on it anymore," she said. "I look beyond tomorrow --- now I can even look to next month."