West Asheville, NC – Oct. 26-31, 2025

On Sunday, October 26, two groups of volunteers arrived at the RSAA (Reparations Stakeholder Authority of Asheville) building—formerly the Presbyterian Church—to work with MDS for the week. One group of seven men arrived from Blooming Glen, Pennsylvania, to work on the housing projects and the RSAA building. Another group of six traveled from New York, with most of that group working on the bridges. What a fun, energetic group of people!

Those working in the RSAA building completed most of the remaining work on the building, except for the electrical upgrade. They put up a divider wall in one of the rooms, repaired doors and the water heater, removed radiators, and installed base cove. They built a deck in the boiler room, painted walls, and installed hand railings. In another room, they disassembled a stage, painted walls, installed new flooring, base cove, two large thresholds, and two ceiling fans. They also set up beds and chairs in preparation for volunteer lodging.

The team at Joi’s house in Beacon Village accomplished the difficult task of placing two beams and beam joists in the basement. They completed the siding, installed soffits, and began work on the fascia.

At Monica’s house, the team first removed old flooring and floor joists. They shoveled dirt from under the house and installed new ribbing. After this initial prep work, they installed floor joists, subflooring, and finally the finished flooring and baseboard. They painted two bedrooms and replaced the sheeting on one of the ceilings. Monica expressed her deep appreciation to MDS for the work completed on her house. Along with a pumpkin pie, she sent a note to the team: “I can’t begin to express my gratitude for all the help that I received from Mennonite Disaster Service.”

Joetta and Jeff worked diligently on lining up more jobs for future volunteers. Joetta reached out to partner organizations, and together they visited and assessed several homes needing repairs.

On Wednesday evening, two gentlemen from the RSAA joined us for dinner and spoke to our group about RSAA and their plans for future community activities.