Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) is a volunteer network of Anabaptist churches that responds to natural disasters in Canada and the United States. While the focus is on clean-up, repair, and rebuilding homes, their partnership with La Posada is in response to the humanitarian disaster and the migrant influx crisis at the South Texas border. Mennonite Disaster Service is supporting La Posada by helping with the construction of needed buildings and the capital campaign- Hope Lives Here.
The MDS volunteers arrived in early October and are residing at a local United Methodist Church in Weslaco, Texas. A new addition to the MDS volunteer experience is integrating an educational component. The educational project is being facilitated by Ada Schmidt, MDS Volunteer for Border Education, and Anna Hinojosa, Mennonite Central Committee Immigration Educator. Each week, volunteers will be learning about immigration and the current issues at the border, including information and stories from La Posada guests and staff, and service providers like ProBAR. The educational component broadens and adds complexity to volunteers’ understanding of the humanitarian disaster.
The most recent meeting occurred on October 13th. MDS volunteers connected with a previous La Posada guest. The purpose of the engagement is to allow participants to encounter asylum seekers as individuals and obtain factual information from direct sources.
We applaud Mennonite Disaster Service for integrating an important component into their volunteer experience and are proud to participate in a project where we can share knowledge and information about the vulnerable community we serve.
Program Highlights
Clients assisted from July 1, 2021 – October 24, 2021 (Fiscal Year):
701
Clients assisted from October 17, 2021- October 24, 2021
26
The following eight (8) Countries of Origin represented in October
Cuba
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
Peru
Venezuela