Environmental Disaster & Response

May 17 2021

One of the goals of this course is to understand social responsibility and analyze from the place of empathy. We volunteered for two weeks to build houses for families that need help to recover after Hurricane Michael. Meeting with leaders of...

May 16 2021

As a 5’10, 150 pound, 19 year old whose hips are as about as messed up as they can get outside of giving birth due to sports injuries, I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything deemed “heroic.” That was until Thursday...

May 16 2021

At MDS in Marianna, Florida, volunteers can actually help out in more ways than just constructing houses. The kitchen is in need of hands just like the job site is, and is equally as labor intensive. Where those on the...

May 16 2021

After a full week of house building and volunteer work, the group took a weekend trip to unwind and relax. Many of the student’s favorite part of the weekend was getting the opportunity to sleep in. For lunch, we enjoyed...

May 15 2021

Self-care. It’s one of the first things you learn in nursing school, but what exactly is it? It’s the ability and power to take necessary time to tend to your physical, mental, and spiritual health and wellbeing. What it all...

May 13 2021

Before you read, go ahead and take a seat. … Take a deep breath. … Clear your mind. …. Picture yourself where you are right now. I, for one, am sitting on the carpet floor reflecting on the past week...

May 12 2021

A piece of being human is entering a space or situation with prior conceived assumptions. Assumptions about who people are and what they believe as well as more general assumptions about where we will stay and what we will spend...

May 12 2021

The days fly by as we continue to volunteer at MDS in response to those who were affected by Hurricane Michael. Our full-time schedule of working on the houses keeps us busy from morning to evening. Since most of us...

May 10 2021

Today was the final day of our first week of service. Throughout the week, we have focused our efforts on a house outside of Marianna and today, we all worked together during the morning to finish the siding on two...

May 07 2021

May 07 2021

After a couple days of very little schedule, there was a shock factor on Monday as we all realized how tightly scheduled our days would be with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS). The schedule each day with MDS is identical: wake...

May 07 2021

After our 17 hour drive we settled in for our first couple days of learning. On Friday, we took a trip to Marianna — the city we would be spending our two weeks with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS). We spent...

Apr 28 2021

In this course, students work with Mennonite Disaster Service to help a community in Florida rebuild after Hurricane Michael and reflect on ways to respond that are ethical, sustainable and respectful. They also carry out a community based research project…