NATCHEZ &8212; Of all the assistance provided by Catholic Charities in Natchez, hope may have been the most important during the post-Hurricane Katrina weeks.

With memories of those large challenges and visions of many more to come, Linda Raff, executive director of Catholic Charities in Jackson, welcomed guests to a &8220;Journey of Hope&8221; Tuesday at the Natchez Convention Center.

&8220;We want to recognize all the work they did after Hurricane Katrina,&8221; Raff said of the Natchez office. &8220;They made a tremendous effort to support the evacuees as they poured in here.&8221;

Evacuees remain, she said. And Catholic Charities continues to give them assistance.

&8220;We want them to move into self-stability and to move on with their lives,&8221; Raff said.

Bishop Joseph Latino of the Jackson Diocese attended, telling the group that &8220;those of us who have been blessed must learn how to bless.&8221;

Eighty-five percent of those served by Catholic Charities are non-Catholic, said Martha Mitternight, director of the Natchez agency.

&8220;Our mission is to be a visible sign of Christ&8217;s love, care and concern for all people,&8221; she said.

&8220;Jesus taught that when we serve others, we serve him. The church teaches that the moral test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members.&8221;

Catholic Charities has its roots in 19th-century Natchez, dating to days when two orphanages were in operation.

Catholic Charities was incorporated in 1963, with the Natchez office opening in 1987.

Services provided at the Natchez office include counseling, emergency relief and programs such as Healthy Start, assisting young pregnant women and their babies, and Peaceful End, which assists needy elderly people.

One of the big successes in Natchez is the Guardian Shelter, Mitternight said. &8220;We served 130 families and 170 children at the Guardian Shelter last year.&8221;

Still, the Natchez office has more requests for assistance than it can fill, she said.

&8220;We turned away almost a thousand emergency assistance requests because there was not enough money to meet the needs,&8221; she said.

Sondra Satcher, one of the newest employees at the Natchez office, told the luncheon guests that she was &8220;not only a long-term recovery survivor but also a long-term case worker.&8221;

As an evacuee from New Orleans, she described her coming to Natchez as her &8220;journey of hope.&8221;

Not expecting to remain, she nevertheless found things working out that way. &8220;I truly believe God had a plan for us. Natchez was the place we needed to be.&8221;

Volunteer Ricky Warren urged luncheon guests to consider donations to the agency to help continue its work. &8220;All the money raised locally remains in Natchez for Natchez programs,&8221; he said.