Would-Be Katrina Havens Weigh Compassion Against Cost

RIDGEVILLE CORNERS, Ohio, Oct. 22, 2005 — -- Pastor Don Barnett of Christ Community Church, a small nondenominational church in northwest Ohio, had a plan: Move 50 people left homeless by Hurricane Katrina into his church, a former school.

Classrooms would become bedrooms, and the home economics kitchen would be a dining room where they could cook their own meals.

But the 250 residents of this farming community objected, citing security concerns. The local zoning board killed the plan.

"This is not a unique place, or a strange place or a bad place," Barnett said. "These are good people that made a bad decision."

If Barnett's plan had gone through, the shelter might still be occupied. At the height of the Katrina emergency, 273,000 people were displaced and scattered across the country. And as of last weekend, thousands of evacuees in 12 states had yet to find new homes, despite a Bush administration promise that all those displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita would be out of shelters and into permanent housing by then.

Local clergy say Barnett's plan simply had too many unanswered questions -- like how he'd pay for it all.

"He told us he expected a miracle," said Rev. Vicky Coombs of St. Peter Lutheran Church.

"Now, we all believe in miracles. But I find that frequently God works his miracles through the good, hard work of the faithful."

It's not just small communities such as Ridgeville Corners that have concerns about taking in evacuees. Similar debates are going on in bigger cities, too.

Mayor Alan Autry, of Fresno, Calif., visited the Gulf Coast after Katrina and promised to take in 400 people -- more than any other California city.

"A natural disaster in one American city is a natural disaster in every American city," he said.

Other local officials worry about how they'll pull it off, given the area's already-high unemployment rate.

"The danger in a county that's struggling with a huge population living below the poverty level is that the systems will just be overwhelmed," said Bart Bohn, administrative officer for Fresno County.

An Ipsos survey of communities taking in hurricane evacuees found that 44 percent said they worried about the cost. About 25 percent said they worried about increased crime and job availability.

"There are going to be limits to anyone's generosity," said Lee Clarke, a sociologist at Rutgers University, "if the recipient of the generosity comes to be defined as a burden."

ABC News' John Yang originally reported this story for "World News Tonight."