notes from the field
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Gaylord, Michigan
OHIO
MDS and Disaster Aid Ohio build new warehouse Volunteers from the MDS Eastern OhIo/Northwest Pennsylvania Unit are partnering with Disaster Aid Ohio volunteers to build a new 3,200-square-foot warehouse with 18- foot garage doors in Berlin, Ohio. “We were struggling to keep our tools and trailers together in one location,” explained Bruce Kindy, vice chair of the MDS unit. “It helps in the coordination between the two groups.” The warehouse, which will likely be finished by fall, offers a meeting room, kitchen, washer and dryer, and a bathroom with a shower. “We will have solar so hopefully that will meet our demand, with a grid tie-in system in the form of a backup generator,” said Maurice Stutzman, MDS Region 2 secretary/treasurer. With two bays for housing equipment, the warehouse will also be wired to charge electric vehicles. A loft will provide space for volunteers to stay overnight. “The interesting thing is that this is being done while there’s been a straight-line wind disaster in the area,” added Stutzman. “To get this done, all at the same time, as well as helping our neighbors—it’s somewhat amazing.”
Homeowner Cynthia Williams receives a quilt at the dedication of her MDS-built house in Marianna, Florida.
MICHIGAN
Bringing hope to tornado-stricken Gaylord Working with Habitat for Humanity of Otsego County, MDS volunteers repaired a home in the Nottingham Forest mobile home park. MDS continues to work with Habitat in that area with the hopes of helping even more people. A tornado touched down on May 20, decimating parts of Gaylord, an Otsego County city with a population of about 4,000.
Berlin, Ohio
“Doing repetitive tasks can be a contemplative exercise,” said Kim. “It’s about staying in the moment, thinking and praying, being in the presence of God and God’s love.” The couple did this while raking sand, gluing a subfloor, stripping forms, pouring concrete or waiting out the rain that fell four out of five days the week they were there. “MDS fits with who we are and how we see things,” she said, noting she grew up in a Mennonite Brethren church where the idea of service and helping others was promoted. For John, the experience had additional significance. An Indigenous man, his home community is the Syilx Okanagan Nation located just south of Monte Lake in nearby Vernon. “That is my ancestral land,” he said. By serving with MDS in the area “something resonated in my heart. I am familiar with that land.”
BRITISH COLUMBIA
NEW YORK
Listening for God’s heart First time volunteers John and Kim Alexis found MDS service in Monte Lake, B.C. a great opportunity to practice contemplation.
Truckin’ its way to a happy homeowner A home constructed by high school students at the Mount Academy in Esopus, New York, was completed and delivered 15 miles/24 km away to a Habitat for Humanity site on June 13. It will become the home for a local family. The home was built via a partnership between Mount Academy, MDS and Habitat for Humanity.
DIGITAL-READY
Behind the Hammer is also available in a digital version with additional content for easy access on your phone, tablet, or laptop: www.mds.org/digitalbth-summer2022. Subscribe to upcoming issues here : https://mds.org/e-mail-and- newsletters/
FLORIDA
Over that time, 1,619 MDS volunteers worked 15,350 days, building new homes and repairing damaged ones—and touching the lives of hundreds. Williams told MDS volunteers that she’s grateful for them all. “I prayed for so, so long for this,” she said. “I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
MDS completes work in Marianna “I will never, ever forget this day.” Those were the heartfelt words of Cynthia Williams, a resident of Marianna, Florida, whose home was the last one dedicated by MDS after three and a half years of work in the Florida Panhandle community.
Monte Lake, British Columbia
Esopus, New York
14 behind the hammer
behind the hammer 15
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