The Joy House ministry was born in the hearts of Steve and Wendy Lowe and Rick and Mary Bell in the ’90s while they were working with teens through a local church in North Georgia. The Lord blessed them to share their lives with troubled and hurting teens and through this experience they came to realize that so many of them needed more than what could be offered through their positions in the church.

After discovering other successful Christian residential programs that were working to restore teens and families, they felt that the Lord was calling them to begin a similar ministry here in North Georgia along the 575/515 corridor, realizing this was a task that only God could accomplish. The Lord confirmed this calling by bringing alongside them other key community leaders who could aid in bringing this vision to reality. This group met as the first board in December of 2000. The Lord moved in a mighty way over the next several months and their doors and hearts were opened to the first teen and family in July 2001 in a leased facility in Pickens County.

The vision from the beginning was to have a campus that would allow the Joy House to serve 40 to 50 teens and families. In 2005 the Lord provided the debt-free purchase of nearly 30 acres for a campus nestled in the foothills of the mountains in Jasper, Georgia. In 2006 the existing home on the property was renovated, boy’s house parents were hired, and in 2006 the boy’s home opened on the purchased campus.

The first major capital campaign began in the fall of 2006. During 2007 the major infrastructure was completed along with a new home for the girls. The operation was consolidated to the purchased campus in January 2008 with the opening of the new girl’s home. A new boy’s home was completed in 2012 with a dedicated academic space on the terrace level to house The Joy House Academy. In 2023 a second girl’s home was completed. We can serve up to 5 teens in each home. Our service area is essentially all of north Georgia and moving south including the Atlanta metro area. From 2020-24 we served teens & families from 22 different counties. Over the past several years, Cherokee County families make up the highest percentage of families served through the Teen-Residential program.

In 2012 the Lord led them to launch a community Counseling Center to provide Christ-centered counseling to families and individuals struggling with difficult life issues along the 575/515 corridor. Each year we serve more than 150 clients through the counseling center. We are seeing marriages restored, relationships between parents and children healed, and individuals finding freedom from life-controlling issues.

Since its inception, The Joy House has been privileged to partner with many struggling teens, families and individuals to provide hope and healing through Christ. This mission continues to be their passion as they seek to follow God’s plan for the ministry.