Participate in Joy Junction's Expansion Project. "Together, We Can!"

You may have noticed the noise we’re making over our big, exciting campaign this month—and that’s the way we want it!

Joy Junction’s expansion project, “Together, We Can!” is all about renovating and improving Joy Junction so that we can offer more services to help the homeless of Albuquerque.

Hopefully you’ve read about what we hope to accomplish (if not, you can read our blog here, or visit our site here). But you may still be wondering why we need to expand, beyond the fact that we’ll be able to offer even more service to our guests.

Why We Need a New Chapel

Joy Junction has a chapel, but unfortunately it’s completely unusable—and it has been for the past 25 years. Our founder, Dr. Jeremy Reynalds, was only able to hold 2 services in the chapel back in 1986 before a flood in the basement rendered it unsafe for use.

Because Joy Junction is a mission-based homeless shelter, we are first and foremost a ministry. Our foundation and mission is faith-based, and part of the way we give a “hand-up” to our guests is through those teachings.

At the moment, we are only able to hold our services in our multi-purpose room. A new chapel would allow us to expand our services. It would not only allow more guests to attend our services, but would also give us the chance to invite the community as a way of fostering community outreach and more community involvement with Joy Junction’s mission.

We’ll also be able to teach classes and hold Bible study groups in our new chapel.

Why We Need a Dormitory

Right now, Joy Junction is able to sleep about 100 people at a time in our multi-purpose building. Our guests sleep on blue mats pushed together on the floor. These mats are put away during the day so that we can use the room for other purposes, including as the cafeteria, classroom, and chapel for our services.

Perhaps one of the most important things about a new dorm would be its capacity – we will be able to house many more people than we do now! This will help us in our mission to keep from having to turn away those in need from shelter and a safe place to sleep at night due to lack of space. Our dorms will also have real beds with mattresses!

The dormitory would be in the Joy House, which would also house a new kitchen that would be able to feed the increased number of guests.

Why We Need the Women’s Center

Many of the women who come to Joy Junction are homeless because they are escaping a domestic violence situation. Some of them have children with them. These women and children need a place to recover and, more importantly, they need to know that they are safe. With a women’s center, those women who are escaping domestic violence and have nowhere else to go will have a roof over their heads as well as the safety and support they need.

Why We Need a Vocational Training Center

Our creed at Joy Junction is to “give a hand up, not a hand-out.” Part of giving our guests a hand-up is teaching those who want to reintegrate back into society the skills to do so. Right now, we teach a few classes and also offer our nine-month CIPP (Christ in Power) program, which is a life recovery program that addresses addictions and other harmful behaviors. Participants also learn life skills and accountability through working at Joy Junction.

What we hope to be able to do through a vocational training center is further this process of teaching our guests valuable skills. These skills will not only enable them to be accountable and successful in life, but allow them to find and keep a steady job. Teaching people the skills to get out of homelessness is the only way to break the cycle of homelessness.

Together, We Can

We really need to expand and renovate Joy Junction so that we can help more of Albuquerque’s homeless break the cycle of homelessness and poverty. The only way we’ll be able to do this is with your help. Please consider donating to our expansion project! Through a community effort, we can help Albuquerque’s homeless. Together, We Can!

And don’t forget to bring the whole family for a concert featuring special musical guest Shawn McDonald for our “Together, We Can” kick-off fundraising concert on Friday, June 15^th at 7 PM! The location is the New Covenant Church located at 7201 Paseo Del Norte NE. Call 505-217-9586 for more information, and come join in the fun to support of Joy Junction!