Red Lake, MN – Sept. 8-14, 2024

Sunday evening, three delightful ladies from Manitoba as well as a hard-working young gentleman from Minnesota, joined our team. Including our six year-long volunteers and long-termers, we have a total of 18 volunteers this week.

Work is progressing well at Vanessa’s house. The team completed the siding, caulking and painting. They installed the cable box and dryer flex pipe. They worked on the porch decking and reinforced the 2 x 8 joists with new treated ones. They built a ramp and will complete it next week. On Friday, Vanessa prepared a meal of ham and fry bread for the crew.

At Brenda’s house, the volunteers tore off damaged siding from two sides of the house. They put on house wrap, installed and painted the new siding. They put on new skirting and installed five windows. This house is almost completed and will be finished next week. We are grateful for the amount of work the team accomplished this week.

Vernelle Lussier, a young mother and treasurer of the tribal council, was our guest speaker Wednesday evening. We were happy to meet her and her two daughters who accompanied her. She shared her personal story of leaving Red Lake to further her education and then returning to help her native people on the reservation.

Thursday, September 12, the Red Lake Nation put on an appreciation dinner for MDS volunteers who have assisted in the home repairs in the Red Lake area. They served us a delicious chicken dinner and expressed their gratitude for the work completed by Mennonite Disaster Service on the reservation.

Wednesday and Thursday, we were happy to welcome Susan Kim, MDS writer, Paul Hunt, MDS photographer and Caleb Gingerich, MDS, social media coordinator. They attended the appreciation dinner and covered the event with photos and stories. They also interviewed homeowners whose houses we have repaired.

Submitted by Josie Swartzentruber for the Red Lake Team