Arizona is working with nearly 500 evacuees from New Orleans. One extended family relocated to Phoenix is making connections with the African-American church community there, where they plan to stay.
RENEE MONTAGNE, host: Some hurricane evacuees did get to make a choice where they were      airlifted, joining family members in Florida, Texas and elsewhere.      Others were simply airlifted out of Louisiana, destination unknown.      NPR's Ted Robbins reports.</s>TED ROBBINS reporting: Last Sunday night, Brian Harrison was grateful to finally be leaving New      Orleans.  A burly young man and his extended family of 18 had lost      everything, but he was still disorientated.  He was on a plane and he had      no idea where it was going.</s>Mr. BRIAN HARRISON (Evacuee): We kept asking once we caught word, `Where      are we going?' you know?  They wouldn't tell us.  They didn't tell us      where we was going till we touched down.</s>ROBBINS: They touched down in Phoenix and were taken to a shelter at      Veterans Memorial Coliseum filled with volunteers and donated goods.</s>ROBBINS: Unidentified Woman #1:  ...(Unintelligible) any volunteers?  I have a      truckload of men's underwear.  Can I get some help unloading the truck,      please?</s>ROBBINS: Here, along with about 500 other evacuees, they got a shower,      new clothes, a hot meal and some sleep.  Red Cross spokeswoman Jennifer      Leroy(ph).</s>Ms. JENNIFER LEROY (Spokeswoman, Red Cross): When they come in, they're      in a state of shock, absolutely, but that shower, that meal and a good      night's sleep really helps put, I think, some folks into focus, and      think, `OK.  Now this is what I'm going to do next.'  So...</s>ROBBINS: What some do next is connect with the Phoenix African-American      community.  Almost all the evacuees here are African-American, and      members of African-American churches in the Phoenix area are on site to      meet and pray with them.</s>ROBBINS: Ms. DIANE DANIELS(ph) (Azusa World Ministries):  And we just reach out to      meet the needs of the people and we just want to be a part of what's      happening here.</s>ROBBINS: Diane Daniels is from Azusa World Ministries.  She wears a blue      T-shirt that says:  Too Blessed To Be Stressed.  Carrying a cell phone in      one hand, she shepherds the entire extended family out of the shelter,      from Brian Harrison, to lean unshaven 49-year-old Ronnie Armont(ph), to a      squinting child who has an instant reaction to the blazing Arizona sun.</s>Unidentified Child: Hot.</s>ROBBINS: Hot.  But as they say here, it's a dry heat and it's fine with      Ronnie Armont.</s>Mr. RONNIE ARMONT (Evacuee): It's beautiful.  What I've seen of it, I      like it.</s>ROBBINS: Of course, less than 48 hours earlier, Armont was being plucked      off his New Orleans roof by a helicopter, on his birthday, no less.  He      was a music recording engineer in New Orleans.  Now he's making plans for      a new life in Arizona.</s>Mr. RONNIE ARMONT (Evacuee): We'll probably stay here from what I've seen so far.  Get      the children in school, get housing, get resettled, then I have to take      care of some business back in New Orleans because I own two houses.</s>ROBBINS: At the moment, all 18 members of the family are loading into      vans for a tour of central Arizona to see where they might want to live.</s>Unidentified Man: Hey, I forgot to ask you how old you were.</s>ROBBINS: Brian Harrison says it already feels like home because of the      warmth of the welcome.</s>Mr. BRIAN HARRISON (Evacuee): The love, the connections 'cause I feel like, you know,      it's what God guided me to.</s>Mr. BRIAN HARRISON (Evacuee): Unidentified Woman #2:  OK.  What's for dinner?  We're having chicken,      greens, corn bread, peach cobbler, coconut chocolate cake.</s>ROBBINS: A few hours later, the family and church members are chowing      down at the community center in Coolidge, Arizona.  Coolidge is a small      desert town surrounded by cotton and alfalfa fields about halfway between      Phoenix and Tucson.  It looks and feels nothing like New Orleans, but      that doesn't matter to Brian Harrison.</s>Mr. BRIAN HARRISON (Evacuee): You know, you never judge a book by its cover.  You've got      to at least read the introduction to see what the next page has to offer.      And so far, you know, I'm willing to read the whole book.</s>ROBBINS: Ted Robbins, NPR News.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: This is NPR News.