Susan Kim, MDS Writer Residents of the Stoney Creek community in western North Carolina drove the last screw and cut the ribbon on their new bridge on April 4, seven months after Hurricane Helene destroyed it. The bridge is the second to...
Sometimes, experiences with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) come full circle. This was the case for Deb and John,* who were introduced to MDS in 2008 when John was invited to volunteer on an MDS assignment in New Orleans, Louisiana. He “caught the...
By Rachel Horst Several weeks before we left for our assignment in Merced, California, we had a realization. Between state and national MDS projects, this would be our 60th assignment! Don’s first time serving with MDS was helping clean...
Charlie, a 14-year-old chihuahua, was sunning himself in the front yard. His owner, Kaylin Bertelsen, led the way past him into her damaged home in Planada. In a tumble of words, she recalled the night of Jan. 9, 2023, when floodwaters overtook her...
“We didn’t think we were going to be eligible.” That’s what Owen Collings said of federal government grants for wildfire survivors in his village — people who had lost their homes to the Lytton Creek Fire in 2021. Mennonite Disaster Service...
“The poorest of the poor,” they told us. We agreed to go with MDS to Puerto Rico to help roof houses that had been damaged by Hurricane Marie over seven years ago. I went thinking that our accommodations would not be up to the standards of many...
Juan Pablo Plaza prays for wisdom every day. As a husband, a father of two young girls, and a pastor for the Conexion Church of the Brethren in Pasadena, California, he’s trying to care for a lot of people. Plaza lost his home—a parsonage...
Snowdrifts of ash, an acrid smell, a lung-burning toxic cocktail hanging in the air. After the Eaton Fire devastated communities in California’s San Gabriel Valley, the interior of the Pasadena Mennonite Church building was unrecognizable...
Anne Tipton was pointing out normal, everyday parts of her home. “I sat in that chair and did a puzzle. There was the ironing board. Those were our camp chairs.” But her home is now made up of ashes, and her belongings so burnt they’re...
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