NATCHEZ &045; At its peak, New Hope Baptist Church served as a shelter for more than 400 evacuees.

Almost six weeks later, five ladies from New Orleans still call New Hope Baptist church home, which is just fine with shelter manager Pauline Rogers.

&8220;We will be open until everyone has a place to stay,&8221; she said.

Operating without the benefit of the Red Cross &045; which is no longer operating shelters in Adams County &045; New Hope is getting by with help from the community. The United Way has given the church access to its warehouse of assistance items, but so far New Hope has not needed it.

&8220;The community has been great,&8221; Rogers said. &8220;We’ve got people calling all the time, saying, &8216;what do you need?’&8221;

All of the community assistance is appreciated not only by the quintet of Sheryl Hunt, Elonda Dillon, Lydia Porter, Rose Hill and Sylvia Williams, but to the hundreds of evacuees staying in local hotels who contact the church regularly and may need to come back should the hotel program be discontinued.

For the moment, though, it’s just the five of them.

And while they are grateful for the hospitality, they’re not there by choice.

&8220;We don’t have a home,&8221; Porter said.

&8220;We lost everything,&8221; Hunt added.

With the exception of Dillon, the entire group lost their Ninth Ward homes to Hurricane Katrina. Hill said a helicopter ripped the roof off of her house during a rescue effort.

By comparison, Dillon is lucky. Her house in mid-city is standing, and she has twice been back to the city to check on it. She decided she was safer sleeping in a church pew in Natchez.

&8220;Even though they’re telling people to go back, I was talking to my brother (who has returned to New Orleans) and he said it was rough,&8221; she said.

&8220;It’s not easy like they’re saying it is.&8221;

People without water and power, schools closed for the year, grocery stores with erratic operating hours miles away, well, like her brother said, &8220;it’s not easy, it’s hard.&8221;

Hunt, who said she is now a Natchez resident, has confidence that the much talked-about but seldom seen Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers are on the way.

&8220;The trailers are coming. The Bishop has been working on it, doing everything he could to help us,&8221; Hunt said.

Bishop Stanley Searcy and New Hope have made church land available for a trailer park. The county accepted his proposal and they &045; along with Natchez evacuees &045; both wait for FEMA.

And wait.

&8220;Tell FEMA to stop dragging their feet because they’ve still got people who need help,&8221; Porter said.

When asked for an estimated arrival time, none of the group, including shelter manager Rogers, knows for sure. Two weeks is a popular guess, but Rogers said it is only that, a guess.

&8220;They’ve been saying two weeks for the longest,&8221; she said.

For its part, FEMA spokespeople say the agency is trying to place people as close to their evacuated homes as possible and is moving hundreds of trailers and mobile homes into storm-affected areas daily.

&8220;There is a continuing effort to find temporary housing in affected areas,&8221; FEMA Public Information Officer Ken Higginbotham said.