A group of Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteers arrived in Planada—a small community in California’s San Joaquin Valley—on Jan. 5, bringing with them a sense of service and hearts full of hope. They are aiming to repair 182 flood-...
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Southern California fires have destroyed thousands of homes and other structures, and over 300,000 people have been evacuated, with many being sheltered in churches and in pop-up shelters throughout the area. Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS)...
Even as the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) family currently prays for and reaches out with care to fire survivors in Los Angeles, MDS volunteers are also helping fire survivors in Maui, Hawaii, by building safe housing and bringing a spirit of...
Several wildfires actively burned in the Los Angeles area on January 9, Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) was in close contact with its local partners. MDS is monitoring the unfolding disaster and will offer support, in cooperation with other faith-...
It’s been four long years since Christine Harper saw the 2020 CZU lightning fire take her 80-year-old home, plus her greenhouse and hay barn on the 20-acre organic farm she and her husband had created in the Santa Cruz mountains. Recently widowed,...
After devastating fires in Maui, Hawaii, there is hope—in the form of Ohana Hope Village. Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteers arrived on October 7, 2024, working to build what’s called “midlevel” housing for fire survivors. An...
A first-time Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteer described his hard work in Idaho as “a great experience.” Jerry Kinsel, a retired teacher who lives in Arizona, traveled to Kamiah, Idaho, where he served for five days as part of a...
Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteers visited Kykotsmovi Village on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona, and helped repair extensive water damage at the Peace Academic Center. After a November 2023 freeze, Lance Polingyouma, superintendent of...
Forty-seven new homes and counting. In a community that has suffered from wildfires since 2014, with the most recent in 2020, long-term recovery has been quietly progressing. MDS is a vital part of volunteer efforts that have kept hope alive for...
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