In an effort to get hurricane victims back in their homes, more than 1,500 volunteers with the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) have spent the last two years helping repair, rebuild and restore homes in Southwest Louisiana.

“Our goal is to make life better and restore hope for disaster survivors, who at many times have lost all hope,”  Southern Louisiana Response Coordinator Phil Helmuth of Harrisonburg, VA,  “Being able to see the hope back in their eyes is worth everything that we put in it and that is what keeps us coming back.”

Helmuth and members of the disaster relief team began the work two years ago, based out of the Jennings Church of Christ where they make their home in the church’s gym. The teams rotate on a weekly and monthly basis.

They are helping the uninsured, underinsured and those who have no way to recover on their own get back into their homes following storm damages from Hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020.

The team has repaired more than 170 homes in Jennings, Welsh, Elton, Iowa and Lake Charles and rebuilt nearly a dozen homes in Jennings, Welsh, Iowa and Lake Charles since arriving, Helmuth said. There are still at least 150 homes still in need of care across Southwest Louisiana, according to his estimates.

“There’s likely more than that, but those are the ones we have identified,” Helmuth said, noting that many others may have fallen through the cracks.

The volunteers, who range in age from teenagers to senior citizens come from all across the U.S. and Canada. They spend their weekdays dismantling old plywood floors, installing new roofs, floors and drywall, caulking, painting walls and cabinets, hauling debris to the landfill and more.

“The mission is to leave the people with a home that is as good, if not, better than before,” Helmuth said.

At 74, crew leader Doug Goertzen of Morton, Illinois has spent the past 12 months staying in Louisiana on  and off helping to bring hope where there had been hopelessness and restoring the lives of strangers he now considers friends.

“It’s more than just putting homes back together,” Goertzen said. “It’s the families that live there. They have suffered so much and have waited so long – many up to two and a half years – for someone to help them bring their homes back up to livable conditions.”

“I walk in and see the hopelessness in their eyes, then I get to share the joy as their homes start to transform back to livable conditions,” he continued. “You can’t put a price tag on that. Their smiles, their hugs are greater than gold.”

As crew leader, Goertzen gets to work with the volunteers, many who have never done this kind of work before and teach them new skills and in the process give them a sense of accomplishment.

“I’ve had young girls who have never been on a roof and they end up tearing it off, blacking it out and shingling a whole house in a day,” he said. “I tell them it doesn’t have to be perfect, just their best effort.”

“It is physical work, but it’s actual service and it’s a joy to me,” he continued. “I get a call to go and I’m on the road. It’s a knee-jerk reaction. Regardless of what I have going on, it’s an automatic yes. There was a period of over a year-and-a-half where I was only home for three months.”

Since 2017, Goertzen has volunteered over 200 projects in South Carolina, Florida, California, Alaska, Texas and Louisiana,

Christa Barth, of New York, and her husband Steve began volunteering with MDS in 2019 after becoming empty nesters. They say helping others is rewarding.

“It moves my heart to be able to help others and share my faith,” Christa Barth said. “We try to bring hope and I think a lot of people feel that hope when we are done.”

Project Director Steve Barth said he gets a satisfaction in seeing those projects carried through, getting people back to a normal life in their own home and forming lasting friendships.

“We have spent a lot of time here getting to know the homeowners who have been putting up with us while we tortured their house and then put it back together,” Steven Barth joked during a recent house blessing in Welsh.

Roy Platt, pastor of the Jennings Church of Christ, said the volunteers bring skills, hope and compassion to those affected by natural disasters.

“All these little pieces of the puzzle came together to not only rebuild a home, but rebuild hope,” said.

Homeowner Veronica Joseph of Welsh is grateful for the group and their helping hands after storms damaged her roof causing water damage inside her home.

“I had been praying and praying that God would send someone to help,” Joseph said. “He didn’t just send one. He sent a team of Angels and their helping hands to help me. It’s amazing what they have done. I wouldn’t have done it without them.”