Village 1 - Gautier, Mississippi

Location: Gautier Presbyterian Church, Gautier, Mississippi. Set up in side yard and adjacent soccer field, all church property.

Lead Team: National Capital Presbytery; Bush Hill Presbyterian Church, Alexandria, Virginia.

Status: 40 tents are in place, management structure in place, daily work is ongoing in nearby communities, some repair work of Gautier Presbyterian Church.

Needs Assessment: Being accomplished by site leadership team through conversations with neighbors, people in the church, and some local officials.

Personnel present: At least 55 volunteers are present, multiple teams, including a large team sponsored by Lutheran Relief (ELCA and Missouri Synod). More teams flowing in this upcoming week.

Unique Features: Pastor Chris Bullock and session approved bed down. Dedicated by the Moderator, Elder Rick Ufford-Chase on Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Sponsor: First Presbyterian Church, Midland, Texas.

Village 2 - D'Iberville, Mississippi

Location: Rudy Moran Park, D'Iberville, Mississippi. Set up on a city softball field identified by local officials.

Lead Team: Westminster Presbyterian Church, Durham, North Carolina

Operations: Advance team arrived on Monday, September 19, 2005, to build the camp. Team is self-contained and brought all supplies to build the camp. PDA has already begun to flow volunteer teams into the village based on estimated date of operations (September 21, 2005)

Needs Assessment: Site leadership is working closely with the Disaster Response team of the city. Needs assessment in progress and daily assignments will be received from the Volunteer Coordinator of the city.

Personnel present: As of Monday night, advance team had approximately ten people on the ground.

Unique Features: Mayor Rusty Quave approved our bed down. The model of well coordinated interaction with local officials for site selection, orientation, and needs assessment. Medium/small community, mayor directing response through a capable ad hoc volunteer disaster response team.

Sponsor: First Presbyterian Church, Port Charlotte, Florida

Village 3 - Orange Grove (Gulfport. Mississippi)

Location: Orange Grove Presbyterian Church, Gulfport, Mississippi. Set up on the open church grounds to the rear and side of the sanctuary.

Lead Team: National Capital Presbytery; Bush Hill Presbyterian Church, Alexandria, Virginia.

Operations: Clerk of Session at Orange Grove Presbyterian Church has given approval for the set up of this camp. (Congregation does not have a called pastor.) Advance team currently at work preparing the site.

Needs Assessment: Working closing with a representative of the East Biloxi city council and a non-profit named Visions of Hope who is coordinating with city leaders. Needs assessment for this very badly damaged community will be accomplished by these leaders.

Personnel present: Two to five members of Advance team on the ground today.

Unique Features: Service will be performed in a mixed ethnic community: predominately African-American, some Vietnamese, some Caucasian. Anticipate an excellent working relationship based upon initial contacts. Relationship presents unique opportunities for long-term recovery efforts.

Sponsor: To Be Determined.

Village 4 - Diamond Head, Mississippi

Location: Diamond Head Community Church, Diamondhead, Mississippi. Every part of the church complex is dedicated to recovery operations: Sanctuary (group meetings, coordination cell, and sleeping); Fellowship hall (feeding and sleeping), Office complex (communications, sleeping, and storage) Sunday school rooms (warehousing of supplies), Grounds (tent camps, RV/camper parking, and assembly areas).

Lead Team: Diamond Head Church and many lay leaders from the congregation.

Operations: Operating since the day after Hurricane Katrina, Diamond Head developed an end-to-end disaster recovery operation in cooperation with First Presbyterian Church, Vicksburg and other supporters through fund raising, supply acquisition, warehousing, transportation, volunteer coordination, sleeping, feeding, medical support, needs assessment, and volunteer team assignments. Area of operations includes hard hit portions of southwest Mississippi (e.g. Port St. Louis, Waveland, Pearlington, etc.)

Needs Assessment: Performed by team leaders with feedback from persons in affected communities. Collated by Diamond Head leadership team and task assignments made for the "next day" operations.

Personnel present: 60 to 100 volunteers from the Diamond Head congregation and across the denomination active on any given day.

Unique Features: Leaders from Diamond Head have gained awareness this week of the Mississippi Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) system. By connecting to the 8:00 am conference call and attending the VOAD face-to-face meeting in Biloxi on Friday, Diamond Head has the potential to draw supplies from other sources and to coordinate their efforts with other faith-based and NGO organizations in the area.

Sponsor: Diamond Head Community Church, Diamond Head; First Presbyterian Church, Vicksburg; and others.

Village 5 - Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

Location: First Presbyterian Church, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

Lead Team: Westminster Presbyterian Church, Durham, North Carolina

Operations: Pastor Ted Hanawalt has given approval for the setup of a future village on church property. Debris clearing is currently underway in the churches side lot. Bed down space is smaller than that at Gautier, Orange Grove, and D'Iberville, but this location will allow teams to work in adjacent areas of Bay St. Louis (and likely be supplied from Diamond Head).

Needs Assessment: In cooperation with local leaders.

Personnel present: Work teams from Diamond Head doing debris removal.

Unique Features: The location is in the middle of an area hit hard by the Hurricane. The church building is in good shape, though structures in the immediate neighborhood are badly damaged. Following set up at D'Iberville, crews from Westminster Presbyterian Church will move forward to Bay St. Louis following coordination with Diamond Head and First Presbyterian Church, Bay St. Louis.

Sponsor:To be determined.