“On A Mission” showcases leaders who are going the extra mile each and every day. Each of the people we interview is on a mission to serve, inspire and educate. Our hosts highlight their impact and explore what motivates, engages and fulfills individuals and teams to be more productive, more effective, better at what they do, and happier to do it. Today our host Morgan Allen spoke with Joy Flores.
Joy Flores
Vice President at Nashville Rescue Mission
Website Address: www.nashville rescue mission.org
Short company description:
largest emergency homeless shelter in all of middle Tennessee
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned over your career?
To restore dignity, you must have power with people, not power over them.
What’s your favorite way to get involved in the community?
relational ministry
If you could be remembered for one thing, what would it be?
the way I made people feel.
Transcript:
Morgan:
Welcome back to another episode of On a Mission, where we highlight those who are on a mission to make an impact. I’m Morgan Allen, Joyned today by Joy Flores with Nashville Rescue Mission. Joy, thank you so much for being here.
Joy:
Awesome. Thank you for having me.
Morgan:
Yes. So tell me a little bit about the great work that you’re doing with Nashville Rescue Mission.
Joy:
Yeah, Nashville Rescue Mission is a 71-year-old organization. We’re the only emergency shelter in all of Middle Tennessee, serving about 800 folks experiencing homelessness tonight. And I have the privilege of serving as vice president of ministries here. I’ve been here for about two and a half years, from California. Don’t hold it against me.
But I have been in this type of crisis work, amongst other things, really just walking with folks on the margins for about 23 years.
Morgan:
Wow. And being in ministry in this type of industry with helping homeless people, people in trauma, that can be very challenging to weave in the good news of our Lord and Savior into such a traumatic situation. So how have you found you’ve been able to do that?
Joy:
That’s actually the highlight of my job. It’s really, you know, when you’re dealing with people in crisis, it’s very traumatizing. And that kind of stays with you, that brokenness that affects the whole person.
Not only do we have emergency services, but we also have life recovery programs. It’s about a seven-month program. We have two campuses, one for men and one for women and children.
We take a holistic approach to ministry. We’re very relational. We really want to restore dignity and see the whole person. And so that takes a lot of patience. It takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of grace and forgiveness walking with people.
Those are relational aspects of who we are. Trauma really gets into how we relate to each other. So our staff are obviously all trauma-informed.
But as a Christian organization, the gospel is the foundation of everything we do. We’re not a homeless shelter with a Bible study. We really believe that the life-transforming, life-saving power of Jesus Christ is what equips us to walk with people in such a way that, honestly, without Jesus this work would be impossible.
There’s no way. I’m so thankful that we’re not in the business of behavior modification. We really are in the business of life transformation. And we just get to see God do His thing.
Morgan:
Oh, and it’s so beautiful that you get to experience that firsthand every single day. And you said the word dignity, and that is the most important aspect, from what I see on the outside, as to what you guys are doing.
Because it’s not just people trying to become a better person. It’s becoming who you’re meant to be with your identity in Christ, in Christ alone. So I absolutely love that you said what you said about that.
Now, you said 800 a night. How big is this facility that you guys are working in?
Joy:
Sorry, I did not hear your question. And we’re back to sportiness.
I think when we talk about restoring dignity, the biggest thing is having power with people, not having power over. A lot of the time when we feel out of control, we reach for power in a scarcity mindset, and we try to control out of fear.
When we look at restoring dignity, we want to treat people with respect, obviously seeing and recognizing the Imago Dei in them, but also having power with them, allowing them to have their own agency.
You know, it’s their life making their own decisions, and not assuming that we know what they need or what their needs are.
We say there’s no one way into homelessness. Folks come to us from a variety of different avenues. Because of that, that means there’s no one way out of it. So we have to walk with people and build that trust and learn their stories so that we know the best way we can come alongside them and offer that support.
Morgan:
That is awesome. And so you said 800 people a night. That is a large number of people. How big are your facilities?
Joy:
That’s a great question. You know, we don’t have a capacity. That’s a true rescue mission philosophy. How could you turn away a single woman or a family, a mom with her children? We would never do that.
So we do have a bed number, a limit of how many beds fit in our facilities. But we’ll put out cots and mats in our chapel and use it for overflow.
There’s been seasons where we’ve had over 100 people in our chapel on mats every night. But overall, we try to get everybody into a bed as quickly as possible.
I’m not sure in terms of square feet how big our buildings are, but they’re pretty big. Our men’s campus is an old Sears building. So if you can imagine a multi-floor department store, that’s how big our men’s campus is.
Our women’s campus is beautiful. We’ve been in the neighborhood that we’re in since 1987, but we just went through a huge remodel. We tore the building down to the ground and rebuilt, increased our capacity, and it’s incredible.
So if you’re ever in Nashville, come for a tour.
Morgan:
Well, that’s absolutely incredible. And I just want to thank you so much for what you are doing for these people who are going through some of the hardest times of their lives. So thank you so much, and I just appreciate you.
Joy:
Your post-production team is going to have a party with this.
And thank you so much. Yes, thank you so much for having me. It was an honor to speak with you. And we just love to carry our mission out.
A lot of people ask me, “What do I do?” or “How can I get involved?” I think the biggest thing is wherever you are, whatever city you’re in, whatever proximity you have to brokenness, don’t be afraid.
We all need love. Love heals a lot of things. If you can learn people’s names, look them in the eyes, learn their story, and have the patience and be present enough not to be afraid of those emotions—even when it feels uncomfortable—you have no idea how God wants to use you.
Morgan:
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much. And viewers, thank you for tuning in to another episode.
If you want more information on Nashville Rescue Mission, head on over to LegacyOfLeadersTV.com, and we have it right there. We’ll see you in the next episode of On a Mission.
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