The new director of Region 5 operations for Mennonite Disaster Service is becoming a little more comfortable with his new role.

Ross Penner was appointed head of Canadian operations for MDS in November, 2015 and is working out of the Winnipeg office. Penner has enjoyed the process of learning the position over the past couple of months, but he's even more impressed by the 'servant heart' that their many volunteers continue to display.

"It's really their desire to make a difference in the lives of people who have encountered tragedy in various disasters and what a rich experience for me to learn and to meet these people, to get to know them. Really, they are the heart of our organization and I am loving the challenge and the opportunity to serve in this way."

Penner replaced outgoing director Janet Plenert who, along with her husband, will take on a service assignment with Mennonite Central Committee in Bolivia in spring. He most recently spent two years in Bangladesh where he worked with MCC and World Vision and he has experience as a lead pastor at several churches and denominational boards.

So far, it's been a fairly easy ride for Penner as most of 2015 has been rather quiet as far as major disasters in Canada are concerned. However, Penner says there were a few disasters south of the border that required the attention of Canadian MDS volunteers.

"Few people know about or realize that the largest disaster as declared by FEMA, the American emergency measures agency, happened in a flood in Detroit that took place in the fall of 2014," he said. "That flood overwhelmed their sewer system and flooded thousands of basements in a city that is struggling economically."

Residents living in neighbourhoods in Detroit proper have limited resources to fix the flood damage in their homes which is why MDS is working hard to raise the profile of that situation. The disaster response organization is sending a significant number of volunteers there this winter to help in the restoration of those homes.

Meanwhile, natural disasters in the U.S. were top of mind for many Americans toward the end of 2015. Several ferocious storms hit the U.S. South, Southwest and Midwest over the Christmas holiday weekend, unleashing floods and tornadoes that killed at least 43 people and destroyed homes and other buildings.

Penner confirms no calls for assistance have come into his office, but he doesn't expect any at this point either. He points out that most of those communities in the U.S. have organizations in place that are ready to help with the immediate clean up work.

"The real strength of MDS happens when it's time to start with some of the rebuilding and that can take some time in terms of identifying those places. We are investigating those situations and looking for the places where we fit in and we anticipate the start up of new projects around some of these disasters that happened in the mid U.S."

Ross notes one of the Canadian rebuild projects they were able to finally finish off in 2015 was in High River, Alberta, which was hit hard by flooding in 2013.