Mississippi Catholic parish shelters New Orleans group home evacuees

Published: 2005-09-20

BRANDON, Miss. (CNS) -- "God continues to show up and show out," said Dorothy McKnight as Steve Walton, a parishioner at St. Paul Church in Brandon, delivered lunch Sept. 13 to the clients and staff of Ciara House of New Orleans. McKnight is program director of Ciara House, a group home that offers housing with supportive services for adults in treatment with the Office of Mental Health in New Orleans. Staff members and clients of Ciara House left New Orleans Aug. 28, as Hurricane Katrina bore down on southeastern Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. When an earlier storm had threatened New Orleans, Ciara House staff had contacted the parish and made arrangements to temporarily stay there. It proved unnecessary then. But, when Katrina threatened, the group from Ciara House again asked the parish for shelter. With parts of New Orleans still flooded, the group did not know when it will return there. "The generosity and kindness of the people here make us feel so safe and welcome, absolutely," McKnight told the Mississippi Catholic, newspaper of the Jackson Diocese.

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