Around 2000, Trent Davis, founder and CEO of Servants Inc., took a mission trip to Guatemala. The trip changed the direction of his life. "(Trent) felt a call to continue relationships and give others opportunity to have that experience," said Keith Cotton, director of outreach with Servants. Cotton noted that Davis coordinated mission trips and worked with missionaries in Guatemala under a program he called SARF (Serving At Risk Families), which also included home repair and construction work.

Fast forward to 2005, when Hurricane Katrina inspired Davis to do home repair work stateside. "(Trent) responded with the same base of volunteers, and that's how the disaster recovery branch started," said Cotton, who noted that flooding in York County in 2010 really brought home the idea of working locally. "There are home repair needs here, and we have these skills," said Cotton. "(Trent thought), 'Let's start working more regularly here in the community.'" Home Helps began serving in York in 2007.

From York, the leap to Lancaster County was natural. Davis now works out of The Candy Factory building in downtown Lancaster several days a week. According to Cotton, the executive team had a vision of expanding into a number of counties, with Lancaster being the first. "Right now we are in York, Lancaster, and Adams," explained Cotton, adding that Lebanon, Dauphin, and Cumberland are in line to get offices next.

One of the initial connections Servants Inc. made was with CrossNet Ministries in New Holland. "In 2021, we completed five projects in New Holland with CrossNet," said Cotton.

Meredith Dahl, executive director at CrossNet, said the organization is grateful to partner with Servants Inc. "Recently, a handicapped-accessible porch was placed on the home of a family in our community," she said. "The family shared with us ... that they observed what it means to show love and care every time they interacted with the (Servants) staff. We are grateful for this partnership and opportunity to meet needs and show God's love in ELANCO."

"Servants is unique because a lot of ministries do the camp model," said Cotton. "We are a year-round model," he noted, adding a full-time project manager was scheduled to begin working for the ministry in Lancaster County in January 2021, with Thursdays and Saturdays slated to be the primary workdays. Cotton noted that the organization is looking for local volunteers. Skills like roofing, plumbing, and carpentry are bonuses but not required. "We put an emphasis on building relationships," Cotton explained. "You don't have to be a professional carpenter to sit down and have a conversation. Anybody can serve."

Servants Inc. is already serving in most Lancaster County School districts where its services would not be duplicated. The organization is actively at work in Columbia as well as New Holland, and representatives attended the Together Initiative Network (TIN) meeting at Pequea Valley Intermediate School on Nov. 17, 2021, for the purpose of introducing the organization to the local community.

Servants Inc., still sends recovery teams to areas of the U.S. hit by disasters. On Jan. 2 and 9, Heartland Recovery trips left to help those areas recently devastated by tornadoes. Readers may learn more about the organization by visiting http://www.servants.org or calling 717-378-0336.