Mennonite Weekly Review

GLENDALE, Ariz. — DeDe Severs, a developmentally disabled woman, searches for friends in the fellowship hall of Trinity Mennonite Church during a potluck.

Dottie and Roland Yoder with Mike Sterrett — Photo by Laurie Oswald Robinson

She spots Roland and Dottie Yoder and weaves their way.

After chatting with the Yoders — who coordinate the local Service Opportunities for Older People, or SOOP — she drifts off to see other friends. Some are fellow residents in a home operated by Goldensun Peace Ministries, a program within the Trinity/Goldensun community that serves the disabled.

And some are new friends. Pleased with her openness, the Yoders watch affectionately as she introduces herself to new SOOP volunteers. They have arrived that day from such places as Pennsylvania, Manitoba and Ohio. The SOOPers come at their own expense, to be part of the program sponsored by Mennonite Mission Network, the Mennonite Association of Retired Persons and Mennonite Central Committee Canada.

Friendship with Severs is one of many blessings the Yoders receive when they come from Lititz, Pa., to Phoenix each winter. They and other SOOPers volunteer in a variety of settings. They pitch in at three local food banks, assist teachers in local public schools and help some with ESL programs. Volunteers also work with the Glencroft retirement center and Choice Books and engage informally with Goldensun.

The Yoders have served as local SOOP coordinators for seven of the 11 years they’ve participated. They help volunteers connect with assignments. About 50 volunteers come to the Phoenix site. It’s one of about 60 sites across North America that welcomed about 230 volunteers in 2009.

The couple help keep things running on schedule, including rotating cooks who make weekday meals for the entire crew at the guest house.

Connecting with Goldensun residents is not something they usually plan. It happens on its own.

“It’s amazing to watch how the SOOP people warm up to the residents and the residents to them,” said Roland Yoder, a retired art and biology teacher. “I think retired folks make connections between how they relate with their grandchildren and how they relate to the residents. There’s a high level of unconditional acceptance.”

It’s spur-of-the-moment neighboring that’s most endearing for Dottie Yoder, a retired nurse.

“I love when Anna or Michelle or Alex stop over on a whim, or we can take them out for ice cream,” she said. “When you put together older volunteers with lifetimes of experience with these residents who are so open to love, something really special happens.”