MDS project director: “we’re going to make it happen”

Rollin Ulrich just celebrated a year of service. For him, that means 52 weeks on the job with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS)—weeks that have been split into one- or two-month stints as an MDS project director.  

An MDS project director is responsible for the long-term planning and day-to-day operations of the project, including volunteer management, construction, and community relations. 

Ulrich spent his 52nd week of service in Elk, Washington, a rural community in the foothills of the Selkirk Mountains, north of Spokane, where MDS volunteers were rebuilding homes in December 2025. 

Ulrich, who has seen the aftermath of many types of disasters, has deep empathy for the communities in which MDS is responding—and in Elk he speaks with compassion for survivors of the Oregon Road Fire, which consumed 260 homes and more than 10,000 acres in August 2023. 

“Can you imagine the helplessness they felt?” he asked.  

As volunteers worked in the snow and freezing temperatures—cheering themselves on by occasionally building a snowman or having a good-natured snowball fight—Ulrich made sure they stayed warm enough. 

His goal was to have four homes closed in by the New Year—one of which was a foundation with a pile of wood beside it.  

“I think we’re going to make it happen,” he said. “This is what we’re challenged to do.” 

Though the cold weather made the work a bit harder, there were also perks that made it easier: a generous and helpful local building supply store, and a trusted partnership with the Spokane Regional Long Term Recovery Committee.  

Over the years, Ulrich has met dozens of homeowners, each with their own story of recovery. He recalled a woman in Jennings, Louisiana, who had a slanted floor, no running water, and an open ceiling. “This was just before I left, and I remember saying to her: ‘We will make this better.’ And her reply was: ‘Anything will be better. I’ve been like this for two years.’” 

Volunteers then repaired her home, installing a new a kitchen, a new bathroom, and new windows.  

Six months later, Ulrich went back to Jennings and drove to her house. “I knocked on the door and grinned at her,” he said.  

He recalled the expression on another woman’s face when she learned that MDS volunteers were going to rebuild her home. “I looked in her eyes, and one eye had hope, and the other had a tear. I saw a contrast in her eyes—but she was looking forward.” 

Susan Kim, MDS Writer