The changes began on early in the morning August 28 for Shanise Pembrick, 12, her brother, Tyrone, 11, and their cousin Roy Lewis, 9, and the other 28 members of their extended family. That's the day they loaded up ten cars and trucks and left the Ninth Ward of New Orleans ahead of the storm.

They had planned to go to Houston but after getting in touch with a relative in Montclair, New Jersey, outside of Newark, they headed north.

The three tell a long story of traveling through Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, the District of Columbia and on up the coast to New Jersey. The traffic was bumper-to-bumper, they had trouble finding gas, and Shanise and Tyrone's father had to be hospitalized for a time.

They left a lot behind and took very little with them. Roy says he knows that his brick home now just looks like it has white boards on it. Shanise said her house has holes in the roof. Some family members know that their houses had things stolen from them.

Two members of the family, father and son James and Tyrone Williams, stayed behind to protect their home from looters. They were marooned in their house when the flood waters rose. They were rescued by boat and taken to the Superdome.

The rest of the family didn't know where they were until two members of the family saw their grandfather on television, laid out on a stretcher in the stadium. They posted missing persons notices until they found them.

The family was taken in first by Bethany Baptist Church in Newark. The congregation gave them a place to stay in a house that had formerly been a women's shelter. Members of the congregation and other faith communities in the area provided food, clothing, toys and books.

It was close quarters for the family that ranges from babies to great-grandparents. "People kept fussing," said Tyrone.

And there was the question of school. That's when Bethany member Leonard Murray went to work, suggesting that St. Philip's Academy in downtown Newark take some of the children. Murray, a St. Philip's parent, presented the idea to Headmaster Manuel Brito who jumped at the chance.

"Expanding our capacity to serve others is fundamental to our existence," Brito said.

Five members of the extended Williams family from New Orleans began the school year at St. Philip's. Two have since left but Shanise, Tyrone and Roy remain. Other school-age members of the family are attend Montclair High School and the smaller ones are in the pre-school at Bethany.

Some of the new St. Philip's students needed tutors to help them catch up with their classmates while others are struggling with all the losses in their lives. They and their relatives attend a bereavement group regularly offered at the school. The uniforms, warm clothes, lunches, transportation and tuition have all come from St. Philip's.

Shanise and Tyrone said they made friends the first day.

"I felt strange at first," Roy said. When asked how he felt now, he was quiet for a few moments and then said, "Better."

"It's been fun out here, but I just hate the cold," Shanise said.

St. Phillip's, founded in 1988 in the Episcopal tradition, aims to serve the children of Newark by providing them with a top-notch, private-school education regardless of their families' ability to pay. It costs $12,000 per year to attend the school. Every child gets a scholarship and many families get other financial aid as well. The school's annual budget is $3.3 million of which $2.2 million is raised.

St. Philip's faculty and staff have often helped the families of their students when they faced emergencies. In fact, it's part of the school's philosophy.

Associate Head of School Jennifer Weil said St. Philip's has always known that it had to address more than simply the academics if the school's students were to thrive.

"Providing a support network for the family allows the children to be successful and prosper," she said. "It's really the only way."

"Working with families displaced by Katrina is just a small part of what we do every day. We're not just in the business of education but also of reaching out to families and making them whole," said Penny Page, director of development. "We want the hurricane evacuees to get a hold of their lives again and to regain their dignity. It's our moral responsibility."

Since New Orleans is beginning to look to the future, Weil said, some of the men in the extended family have gone back home to get work. They mainly work in the trades. One is an electrician, another is a tugboat operator.

In the weeks since their arrival, the St. Philip's community and the larger community has rallied around the family. Donors have stepped forward to help parts of the family move into other housing. The family still has mortgages and other bills to pay in New Orleans and the fact of paying rent in Newark was daunting, Weil said.

The Newark law firm McCarter & English is contributing any needed legal services to the family and Impact Coaching Services had donated life coaching. The school's staff helped with resume writing, and employment and housing searches. The family has gotten help with automobile repairs and furniture and household essentials have come from donors and restricted gifts to the school. Public Service Enterprise Group (PSE&G), a utility headquartered in Newark, has also helped.

"People have come together just beautifully," Weil said. "You need a lot of people to do this."