Joy Junction: 20 Years Old and Still Called “Home” by Many 

By Jeremy Reynalds
Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (ANS) – According to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, about 3.5 million people nationally, 1.35 million of them children, are likely to experience homelessness in any given year.

In view of these statistics, we can expect the homeless population in America to grow larger than the present populations of New York City, Chicago, Washington, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Dallas, combined.

The homeless landscape twenty years ago included more homeless men. Today, I see a growing number of families seeking help from Joy Junction. And as the price of gasoline continues to skyrocket and the economy shows no signs of improving, I see the situation worsening.

It is hard to believe that Joy Junction, New Mexico’s largest homeless shelter, is 20 years old. It seems like a short time ago that I came up the driveway of our 52-acre property wanting to reach out to homeless families with the love of Jesus Christ. I had no idea what adventures, struggles and trials would lie ahead.

The vision I had was for a refuge where the entire family unit could stay together at one of the most difficult times in their lives; assuring that the husbands and wives had the support of each other and the children, while attending schools in the area, could live in as normal a situation as possible.

At that time, the country was just beginning to experience the plight of the homeless family. This phenomenon created the need in Albuquerque for a shelter that would address that growing trend.

While there are shelters locally and nationwide for homeless men and fewer for homeless women, the number of organizations offering assistance to the entire family has been and continues to be negligible in comparison to the overall need.

When Joy Junction opened we were “home” to about 60 people. Within a year we were housing about 100 people nightly. Now 20 years later, we regularly shelter between 200-250 people. Of course, this requires additional buildings!

So, what happened to greatly increase the number of homeless people? While I am in favor of Welfare Reform, I believe that the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, just served to move people from receiving public assistance to needing private help. It was about mid-2001 that Joy Junction began to see a dramatic upswing in the number of people asking us for assistance. While a 2003 White House statement (http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/welfarereform)  said that 2 million fewer families were on welfare than in 1996, I am convinced that many of them have been helped by Joy Junction and other faith based ministries across the nation. Joy Junction accepts no federal, state, local funds for support. It relies totally on the private sector for funding.

For my recent Ph.D. dissertation, I conducted an extensive study of the way the media portray the homeless. In the mid-1980’s, many media portrayed the homeless sympathetically. My two-year study showed that the print media reported more on homeless issues, while the broadcast media reported on the homeless as they were connected to criminal activity.

But what has not changed are the looks on the faces of those who come to Joy Junction seeking assistance. When the door opens, in comes in a sad and scared mom, with a couple of children in tow, looking for a place to stay. Other times, it’s an embarrassed and humiliated dad having to swallow his pride to make sure his wife and kids will find food and shelter until he finds a permanent place for his family to stay. Sometimes, it’s a hardened disabled vet who is seeking shelter in another state. These individuals need our love and care and thank God we are here to give it to them. Thanks to the kindness of those dear and generous people in our community – our donors – whose gracious giving we rely on to provide needed services. They understand the importance of our mission and have stood beside us through the years.

Specifically, this depth of healing requires not only emotional counseling, but also spiritual nurturing to give these men and women the understanding that they are precious children of God and that He has a special plan for their lives. Once they realize the fullness of this amazing truth; they gain the strength they need to return to, and be contributing members of, the society that once turned its back on them. Joy Junction continues to welcome those in need.