Wednesday, June 13th, many of you heard our Executive Director, Steve Lowe, Girl’s Home resident, Leighanne and her dad, Dave, share on the FaithTalk LiVE with Rick and Dan radio show how The Joy House has been used to change their lives for the better. The show started with lots of laughs as Dave was teased for being overdressed by the casually dressed hosts being told “somebody didn’t get the no suit memo.” The show quickly progressed to the purpose of the program, which was to highlight The Joy House, what it is doing in the lives of girls just like Leighanne and how the community can join in to help the ministry expand to help more teenagers as it approaches its 17th anniversary of “restoring lives and families.”
Lowe shared that “every kid that comes to [The Joy House] is angry” and how the program builds “relational bridges that Christ can walk across and bring the healing.”
Dave and Leighanne shared some of their personal story that included Leighanne joining their home at the age of nine, how he and his wife Jess adopted her, and how into her teen years their “struggles continued until they exploded.” They discovered The Joy House from a friend’s referral and Leighanne came into the program in January of 2017. It took many months for Leighanne to appreciate the program. She stated “for a while I didn’t want to accept that all of them actually loved me and cared to help me” but things changed when she says God opened her eyes. Leighanne is now looking forward to earning her high school diploma through The Joy House Academy this fall, completing The Joy House program in the near future and pursuing her desire to become a NICU nurse.
Lowe stated “there’s not a magic bullet at The Joy House” to bring about a positive change in a teen’s life, but the key is relationships. Dave shared that the counseling he has received at The Joy House has helped him in “being very effective in how to be a better communicator” and when asked to give advice for other parents finding themselves in similar situations he said “I’ve never regretted a conversation that I’ve started with a position of trying to be understanding and listening…try to understand who your teenager is.” He shared that ultimately “it comes down to not giving up.”
The program ended with Lowe sharing that the campus is looking to build another girl’s home through their Second Home for Second Chances campaign. Lowe stated “we are a faith based ministry, so all of our development is done debt free” and thus far The Joy House has raised $322,000 towards the $780,000 needed to build the next girl’s home. If you would like to help reach more girls like Leighanne through The Joy House, donations may be made online at thejoyhouse.org/2ndchances
If you missed the show, don’t worry, because you can watch the recording by clicking HERE at anytime.
