Staff photo / Bob Coupland Sherri and Troy Woods with Mind, Body and Soul of Warren speak about efforts to raise funds for constructing a health center in Rwanda.

WARREN — A city couple is working to raise $86,000 to help build a health center in Rwanda as part of a mission effort.

Troy and Sherri Woods with Mind, Body and Soul said they have been part of local and global missions.

They shared their efforts at a recent Mind Body and Soul Support Dinner for Rwanda.

The Rwanda Journey Project is a capacity-building train-the-trainer project with mHub Rwanda to train and empower mental health workers to provide self-care, coaching, trauma first aid, emotional and mental health wellness, and employee assistance to agencies, vulnerable populations, and communities recovering from the trauma of genocide.

The Woods said they follow the message “It Takes a Team to Serve Globally.”

They have traveled to east African nation, where there is a need for a center to provide mental health services.

Troy Woods said originally the health facility was to be $150,000 but he and Sherri met with Ohio Department of Health officials last year who explained that the Woods are missionaries building a center that provides health services.

He said they were advised by health officials to reduce the size of the facility from a large center to a smaller homestyle center bringing the total to $86,000.

Troy Woods said they used $14,000 to purchase 300 square meters of land in Rwanda for the center. He said they received help from Huntington Bank with purchase of the land.

He said architects are currently working on the design of the center.

To raise the $86,000 the Woods are seeking donations, grant opportunities and pledges.

Troy Woods said there are also plans to have an investor wall in the six-room center. He said people can have a room in their name, or sponsor a table or item in the center.

“Every donation and gift helps,” Sherri Woods said.

He said the goal is to get the center construction started this year for the grand opening and start of programming and services in 2027.

The Woods plan to return to Rwanda in August.

The Woods, who started Mind, Body and Soul in 2006, said the wellness center will help to serve those in Rwanda who have survived rhe genocide.

“We are asking people to invest and support what we do locally and globally,” Troy Woods said.

EXPERIENCE IN RWANDA

Yvonne Uwamanhoro of Rwanda, who has completed her master’s degree in social work and mental health, said she is amazed how kind and caring everyone has been to her in the United States.

“So many people I have met have kind hearts. I am looking forward to the miracle of a center that God has plans for us,” Uwamanhoro said.

She said in Rwanda the genocide there effected many lives including hers.

“Everything was destroyed. I help people who have been suffering. I gained knowledge in mental health so I could help people in a professional way,” she said.

Uwamanhoro said she tells people that it is OK to seek help and assistance for issues faced in their lives.

She said the center can provide solutions and offer a safe space where people seeking help can feel safe.

“Our center will be like a shelter where people can receive help and walk in the gardens,” Uwamanhoro said.

Paulette Edington of Warren said she and her husband, Terry, went on a mission trip last year.

“For me this was very life changing, I learned so much about the reconciliation village,” she said.

Edington said there were men who in the genocide killed the husbands of women.

She said it was hard to see a woman forgive the man who killed her family but after he was at the reconciliation camp they return to society and help the women who are widows.

The men who committed the killings go through faith-based training and then come back to the communities as caregivers to the women and children.

“He apologized for what he had done. It was a very intense training,” Edington said.

Sherri Woods said there is a domestic violence shelter which works with the men and women attending interactive programs on dealing with anger in a healthy way.

She said ministries were offered to men and women with the Woods serving as ministry leaders and instructors.

Mary Shortreed with the Guidelight Financial Group said when she was in Rwanda there were efforts to get goats and cows for milk and protein to the people in Rwanda.

She said the women in Rwanda will also be able to sell the milk at the market.

Shortreed said there are efforts to raise funds for people to get places and also have a Ronald McDonald type building where they can stay when family members are sick.

“Those who go with us to Rwanda do make an impact on the people there. We want to provide social and emotional literacy to help teachers and social workers. The nursing students who go with us provide assessments of the school children who have never seen healthcare,” she said.

Shortreed said NorthMar Church where they attend has missionaries who go out to parts of the world,

“We believe we are helping to make a difference across the world,” she said.

For information or to help contact Woods at troyktc@aol.com or call 330-984-1528.