Joyce

Joyce, a PCHO Housing Stability Coordinator, guides our clients on their path home. Woven into that process are the threads of her experiences over a 25+ year career that has included providing support services to families who navigate trauma, substance use, mental health challenges, and the juvenile justice system. Relationship-building has always been at the center of how Joyce works. 

“What has caused their instability? That is where I start with each client. Once the person 

feels comfortable dropping their guard, that’s when you find out what you need to know to customize a strategy that works for their journey and improves their situation,” Joyce said. 

That start is meeting people where they are at, which is often a place of feeling hopeless, and then making a personal connection. Even if it is just to bring them a smile. For Joyce, her calling is helping people to understand they are worthy and deserving of success. 

This calling is one she committed to while just a young teen, after reading a newspaper advice column. A woman wrote about her child, who had taken their own life.  

“I read that and vividly remember thinking, I wish I was there to talk with that person. When I grow up, I am going to do all I can to help people not feel and experience those deep dark feelings,” Joyce said. 

This commitment, and her deep faith in God, calls Joyce to be a voice for those lost and hurting. “That is a big factor in how I show up for people,” she said. 

Joyce’s prior work at Hillside Children’s Center included in-home and school-based services, Crisis Avoidance Management, and time in a non-secure detention setting. This skillset means she approaches her PCHO clients with a deep understanding of how childhood traumas may have contributed to their current housing instability. 

“Getting their housing is step one. Next is helping them learn how to keep it. My clients who open up, the ones who jump on it, are the ones who find out what they can accomplish,” Joyce said. 

Her collaborative approach includes offering encouragement and building blocks of life skills. Especially for her clients with children.  

“I’m a parent myself, so in addition to all my field experience with children, I have personal experience with how important routines are for kids. And if one of my client’s stressors is establishing a stable household with a toddler after a custody transition, then sometimes it’s teaching deescalation strategies, and sometimes it’s sharing parenting tips,” Joyce said. 

She acknowledges that she doesn’t always get to see what grows from the seeds she plants. Sometimes former clients reach out to her to say thank you. And then sometimes her current clients run with everything she offers them, simultaneously making her, and themselves, proud while modeling how to break cycles. 

“We’re here for them, beyond getting the rent paid,” Joyce said. “All I can do is be an instrument. They make the choice.”