John Beale, Post-Gazette Patti DiCicco, left, and Paula Abebe sort household goods to be used by Hurricane Katrina evacuees expected to be arriving soon at the Pittsburgh Project, a non-denominational Christian facility on Pittsburgh's North Side. The women are volunteers from Orchard Hill Church in Wexford. Click photo for larger image.

With teams of volunteers and businesses working to provide facilities for an influx of Gulf Coast evacuees today, Gov. Ed Rendell said this afternoon that Pittsburgh may get few or none.

Rendell said that the influx of Hurricane Katrina evacuees that Pittsburgh and Philadelphia were set to receive will be significantly smaller than previous estimates of 1,000.

In a teleconference call with the Pennsylvania press corps, Rendell said Pittsburgh may be removed from the list of possible cities expected to receive evacuees.

"It's like preparing for a party and learning only 1/10th of the guest are coming," Rendell said. However, the governor and officials from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency did say that does not mean that Pittsburgh would not receive any evacuees.

"That doesn't mean we are going to stand down," Rendell said. Instead, the governor said states could be tapped to receive evacuees on a rotational basis, with two states asked to leave evacuee centers open for two days periods and then another two states asked to receive refugees.

As of this afternoon, Philadelphia had received 35 displaced Gulf Coast residents and a dog.

Groups of evacuees had been expected to arrive today, and local agencies were scrambling to provide them with all the comforts of home.

"We hope to make them feel like they're here visiting family," said Saleem Ghubril, executive director of the Pittsburgh Project, an urban Christian community development group that will be the first stop for evacuees not needing immediate medical care.

The complex on the North Side offers a new dormitory with 324 beds, a dining hall, community garden, classrooms, recreation rooms and a chapel.

Last night, Allegheny County officials were awaiting word from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on when the first group of evacuees would arrive and how many would be coming.

Upon arrival, medical workers from local hospitals will assess the health of each person to determine if he or she should be hospitalized or can proceed to the Pittsburgh Project.

Mayor Tom Murphy has said that the city could comfortably accommodate 1,000 or more people on a permanent basis, providing them with a home and long-term support.

Also available are 300 Pittsburgh and Allegheny County housing authority units, and 150 beds at the county's John J. Kane Regional Centers. Many individual residents also have offered their homes to those dislocated by the storm.

	John Beale, Post-Gazette Saleem Ghubril of the Pittsburgh Project talks on the phone in one of the rooms that has been prepared to house Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Click photo for larger image.

Nobody knows exactly how many people will eventually land here, how much all these efforts will cost and how long the services will be needed, but Ghubril said the Pittsburgh Project complex would be available at least until May. Each summer, the organization houses youth groups from all over the country that work on local projects rehabilitating homes for the needy.

"We'll keep doing it until every person who has been dislocated is located," he said.

Although the plan hasn't been tested, he hopes families can be moved to long-term, temporary quarters within a week to 10 days of their arrival.

Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Foundation announced it had set up two emergency relief funds to provide aid for hurricane victims.

One of these, the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund-Pittsburgh, will support the short- and long-term needs of those relocating to the region. Proceeds from this fund will be distributed to nonprofit groups like the Pittsburgh Project that will be assisting evacuees. The other fund will raise money to be distributed among community foundations in the Gulf Coast region.

"This is an unusual step for us, but not unprecedented," foundation spokesman John Ellis said about the new funds. Normally, funds are set up by specific donors. A similar relief fund was set up after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. "We feel this is necessary and appropriate."

He had no estimate on how much money is needed.

"These people are arriving with just the clothes on their backs. How do you begin to estimate?" he asked. "Their needs will be ongoing. It's going to be substantial."

Gene J. Puskar, Associated Press Volunteers at the Pittsburgh Project organize donated toys, clothes and supplies yesterday in the organization's newly constructed dormitory on the North Side. Click photo for larger image.

Also yesterday, Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato announced the creation of a hotline for residents who want to donate food, clothing, money, housing and other assistance to hurricane victims relocating to Pittsburgh. Call CONTACT Pittsburgh at 412-423-0202 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Support, so far, has been overwhelming, Ghubril said. The project sent out e-mails to 20 friends Friday night, seeking help with the effort. By yesterday, it already had received enough donations in clothes, bedding and other supplies to serve the first three waves of evacuees. More than 50 churches have become involved, and Giant Eagle has pledged $50,000.

The dormitory, which will be staffed 24 hours a day, has places that can house full families and people who need wheelchairs. There also are eight rooms for families with infants that can fit up to six individuals, each with a private bath, as well as 20 rooms with seven bunk beds for large families or extended families.

Scores of volunteers yesterday were sorting everything from toys to baby clothes to cleaning supplies.

In the large ground floor of the dormitory, there were tables stacked with school supplies and backpacks; tables with diapers, blankets and other baby supplies; tables with pillows and other bedding.

Karen Shumaker, who works with the project's after-school programs, was among the staff trying to come up with all the items people would need to begin their new lives.

"Alarm clocks," said another staff member. "And maybe a little bedside table to put their clock on."

		The Pittsburgh Foundation funds The Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund-Pittsburgh will support short- and long-term needs of families and individuals who relocate permanently to the region. These funds will be distributed among nonprofit groups assisting in the relocation. The Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund-Gulf Coast will raise money to be sent to community foundations in the Gulf Coast region. Donors should send checks to The Pittsburgh Foundation (specify which fund you want to support) One PPG Place, 30th Floor, Pittsburgh 15222-5401.

Also in great need are phone cards, footlockers, padlocks, duffel bags, shower shoes, baby formula and other baby food, Bibles, toiletry items, laundry detergent and laundry baskets, and new pillows and new twin-size sheets. These can be delivered directly to the Pittsburgh Project at 2801 N. Charles St. Donations of clothing should be taken to Goodwill, which is sorting and cleaning the clothes before delivering them by the truckload.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh Public Schools is gearing up for an influx of new students. Janet Yuhasz, health services official, doesn't know how many children are coming, but said the district will work "to ensure the children are enrolled as quickly as possible in the school and have as smooth a transition as possible."

Some of the children likely will enter city public schools, but others who find housing in the suburbs will attend schools there.

Yuhasz said preliminary information indicates about 300 families, with two to seven children per family, will come to the county.

She said the district will treat the children as homeless so the usual paperwork will be waived, enabling them to be admitted promptly to school.

She said health officials are permitting an eight-month provisional period during which school health officials will help the children to set up new health records.

Area volunteers Katrina bound

Local hospitals, fire departments and other organizations are continuing to send volunteers to the Gulf region to help.

Ten nurses from University of Pittsburgh Medical Center left yesterday for Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio to help with an estimated 25,000 evacuees in that region. They will be among 15 traveling from UPMC.

Melanie Heuston, director of nursing professional practice/recruitment, said she was amazed at the response. Many more nurses volunteered than could go, because local hospitals need to be adequately staffed. At UPMC Passavant, names were drawn from a hat to select just two out of seven who wanted to go.

Danna Mechling, 38, of Kittanning, an emergency room nurse at UPMC St. Margaret, will be leaving behind her children, ages 8, 10 and 15, to serve for three weeks. Her husband, extended family and neighbors in her close-knit community are pitching in to help watch the kids and her two dogs.

"I just want to do whatever I can," she said. "Those nurses and doctors I've seen on TV are probably exhausted. They need some relief."