wfn.org | Dallas volunteers say good-bye

[BethAH@mbm.org]

March 14, 2001
Beth Hawn
Mennonite Board of Missions
(219) 294-7523
<NEWS@MBM.org>

Dallas MVS says goodbye to unit house of 18 years

Grant Rissler is serving through Mennonite Voluntary Service as a
writer and photographer.  After spending a year as intern at the
Mennonite Central Committee United Nations office in Manhattan,
he is traveling for five months by bus to 20 other MVS and
Short-Term Mission sites, gathering the stories and experiences
of other volunteers and communities.  A weekly column by Grant
can be found on the web at www.MBM.org.

DALLAS (CHM/MBM) – On Jan. 27, former Mennonite Voluntary Service
workers and current support committee members of the MVS unit
gathered to say goodbye to the house in the Oakcliff neighborhood
of South Dallas that has housed the unit since its beginning 18
years ago.

Because of continuing structural problems and high heating and
cooling costs in the rented house – and a gradual shift of
volunteers’ work assignments to other sections of the city as the
Oakcliff area became more gentrified – the local support
committee had contemplated such a move for several years,
committee chair Amy Lefever said.

A drop last year in the number of volunteers requesting
assignments in Dallas also left the large house underused.  In
December, when several volunteers’ assignments ended, leaving the
house empty, the committee took the opportunity to change
locations.

“There were a lot of mixed emotions,” said Barbara Graber, one of
the first MVSers to live in the house and still a member of Peace
Mennonite Church.  “It was easy to go knowing that the house was
starting to fall apart.  But it was hard knowing that we would
never be in this house again, we would never have this part of
history for the unit and for the church.  My daughter was sad
because she grew up visiting that house.  She said, ‘Things will
never be the same.’

“The house hosted not only the volunteers,” Graber said.  “They
all have family and friends that came through and in some way
participated in the life of that house.  Everyone has an event in
life that has taken place there.  But the church looks forward to
starting a new [MVS] location and, therefore, new memories.”

The volunteers who will help create those memories will be
“welcomed whole-heartedly by the church,” said former MVSer
Stephen Obold, who served in Dallas from 1996-1999 and is now a
member of Peace Mennonite Church.  “MVSers are very dynamic.
They bring a lot of life and energy into the congregation.  Being
just out of college, they bring a potential for growth.  Lots of
volunteers have stayed in Dallas and played an active role in the
church community.”

The new unit house will likely be located in East Dallas, Lefever
said.  “It is very much a multicultural area [where many of the
work assignments are now located].  Yet it’s very close to White
Rock Lake, which is Dallas’s ‘Central Park.’”

The church has not decided whether it will rent or purchase a
house.  “We’re almost [hesitant] to buy because we’re not sure
how many [MVSers] will come,” Lefever said.  The Dallas unit,
long known for its work with immigration [issues], is still
dealing with the closing of Proyecto Adelante, a longtime partner
that provided legal assistance to asylum seekers.

But the unit has a wide range of service options, ranging from
social work to teaching to business placements, and Lefever says
the unit will continue.  “Shutting down [MVS] in Dallas is not an
option for me.  We’re here to serve and I think MVS is one of the
best ways to do that. There is a need here.  It would be sad [to
close] because so many nonprofits benefit from an MVSer.

“If you’re willing to step out of your box and live in a world
you didn’t grow up in, then you should come to Dallas,” she
said.  She also pointed out the potential connections with the
flourishing business community for volunteers.  “If people choose
to go into business as a career, I think this would be a
wonderful place to start.”

Mennonite Voluntary Service is a joint program of the Commission
on Home Ministries of the General Conference Mennonite Church and
Mennonite Board of Missions of the Mennonite Church.
* * *
Grant E. Rissler       PHOTO AVAILABLE