Celebrating 50 Years

Joy and her husband John and their two children (Anders age 7 and Jon Kara age 28 days) moved to Roanoke for Joy to begin work as Director of Development and Outreach on May 1, 1986.

In 1986 the Rescue Mission had 13 staff members and an annual budget of $200,000.

The first challenge was to computerize the Mission’s data base and create a monthly newsletter. Joy bought two computers and began writing the monthly newsletter and monthly thank-you letters to all donors. This was followed by the creation of a weekly television program on public television to broaden the donor base of the Mission. The Mission staff learned how to do a capital campaign when they raised a million dollars to build the Family Shelter (currently the Men’s Shelter) in 1989. Another challenge was to begin the foundation work for the Lifeline Foundation (aka The Rescue Mission Foundation) and a planned giving program.

In the following years, Joy as Director of Development and Outreach and John as Director of the Recovery Program were to design and implement the Mission’s first recovery programs, learning center and camping program at Jubilee Acres (a property built in 1993).

In 1998, Lois celebrated 50 years at the Rescue Mission and the musical “Soup, Soap and Salvation” was written by Joy and Dr. John Priddy to commemorate the occasion. Plans were made to build a new campus for the Rescue Mission including a new thrift store, administration building, kitchen and dining room, women’s recovery building and single women’s shelter.

Within weeks of the celebration, Lois suffered a massive coronary attack and was hospitalized. She and George retired from Mission work later that year.

Joy was named Chief Executive Officer. She and Judy Perfater (a full-time volunteer recently retired from the Roanoke Times) ran a capital campaign that eventually raised more than four million dollars to pay for the new thrift store, the new KDAC (Kitchen, Dining, Admin and Chapel), and the caretakers House at Jubilee Acres.