Joy House has property under contract for permanent campus
Fundraising effort underway by Pickens hurting  teen home

     The Joy House, a non-profit organization helping teenagers and their families, has a 28 acre piece of property under contract, where they plan to build a permanent campus.
     Founded by Pickens native Steve Lowe, the Christian ministry has worked in the lives of "hurting" teenagers and to improve the relationship of the teens and their parents since its 2001 founding.
     Lowe said the purchase of the property represents a significant step in establishing a permanent ministry. Currently the organization  houses boys in one wing and girls in another wing of a rented building with one set of house parents supervising both groups.
    The property which sits at the intersection of Bent Tree Drive and Cove Road is considered ideal by Lowe and other Joy House staff and board members.
   It's convenient for parents to come to regular counselling and meetings and offers the space to expand to a full campus, Lowe said.
     "We've been successful in helping local families and have reached the point we can more effectively meet the needs of this area with the property," Lowe said. "There are a lot of things we can do out there that we can't do now."
    Plans eventually call for a residential building for boys and one for girls, both with house parents, plus school buildings. There is one house already on the 28-acre parcel and it may serve as an administration building initially.
Lowe said once the property is paid for, the Joy House will begin working on the first permanent home and then move either the boys or girls there with house parents and leave the other group at the rented facility with a separate set of house parents.
    Since the founding the Joy House has had 11 teens graduate through the program, but the numbers of those served are much higher.
        Lowe said there has been 25 teens in the program who received some help and nine currently in the program.
      "There is a waiting list now," he said. "If we had more space, there are more teens we could help."
     In addition to the teens who join the program, Lowe said he and the Joy House staff have counseled others who didn't officially enroll. "A lot of the time, when we do some of the first-stage counseling, we're able to work out the problems," he said.
       Lowe said his mission statement is they are a Christian ministry dedicated to reconciling teens and their families, and in doing so, they help  local families deal with a wide variety of issues.
      "We're not just here trying to fix people," he said. "We build relationships and come together with people to help them succeed in life."
       Lowe said the community has always been supportive of the program and he is looking to the community again to support this expansion through a fundraising campaign.
    The price for the property and included house was $420,000. Local donors have already given $200,000 toward the project -- even before it was publicly announced that the Joy House was looking to expand.
      "The community has been greatly supportive," he said. "We desire to do this debt free. We're trusting the Lord to touch hearts and make it happen."
     There are two ways anyone who wants to donate can do so:
Send checks to The Joy House, P.O. Box 247, Jasper, GA 30143 or online with a credit card at www.thejoyhouse.org