A Night for Hope: A Decade of  Lives Changed

Home of Hope, based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, has been a source of refuge for homeless youth and families for 37 years, first as Gwinnett Children’s Shelter and later as the organization we know and love today.

Stephanie Joedecke has been involved with the organization for over a decade. Her husband, Jim, serves on the board, and together they have a passion for the ministry at Home of Hope. 

“I’m really drawn to how Home of Hope takes in these [homeless] moms, whether they have children or not,” Stephanie shared. “They provide counseling, support and teaching to show them how to harness their lives back together. 

“The case managers get the moms thinking, ‘I’ve got a huge responsibility in my life now that I have children, and I have to understand how to do my daily life and do it in the right way.’”

One of Stephanie’s roles in recent years has been to help with organizing and planning some events. 

This year, Home of Hope hosted its 10th annual gala, and it was a night of fun and fellowship.

“The gala is truly a celebration. Our goal is definitely to raise money while we’re there, but it’s fun to party too!” Stephanie said.

“The gala itself for me is just really a fun event. I get to be involved in the planning part, specifically the decor. I get the fun job of being able to make the vision for the night come to life and see everyone enjoying all that we put together.”

The work that Stephanie and the rest of the decor team do to put  everything together sets the tone  for the entire night — and for such a large event, it’s a crucial job. 

“The environment matters when you first walk into the room and somebody gives the valet their keys, and then they walk down the hallway and up to the table to check in,” Stephanie said. “It’s everything from the point that they check in to when they leave for the evening.

“And then we have The Rupert’s Orchestra, which is always a huge hit. Let’s be honest, the band really puts on the party!” 

The night of the gala is always a wonderful time of fun and fellowship. Ultimately, the gala is designed to be a blessing for the families at Home of Hope, as the biggest fundraising opportunity of the year.

“The gala itself just hits back a hundred percent to the mission of how Home of Hope supports these moms and kids who are homeless,” Stephanie said.

“Home of Hope is really changing lives. Homelessness is often generational; these moms were possibly also raised in a homeless situation, and then it’s almost normalized. Home of Hope comes in and tries to break that cycle. They pull moms and children out of their desperate situations and give them a new plan.

“Then their children who see all of this get to say, ‘My mom was able to work hard to get us to a good living situation and have a good life,’” Stephanie said. “And as they grow up into adulthood, they can see how hard their mom worked — and we hope they follow suit.”

Home of Hope has been a launching pad  and resource for homeless families ready to do the hard work to improve their situation. Stephanie’s dream for the organization is that more moms will find help and hope.

“I think there needs to be more awareness [of the need],” Stephanie said. “When people are more aware of what Home of Hope is doing and its mission, then people, such as myself or other donors, would like to give more of their time, talent and treasure to be able to make Home of Hope an even bigger organization than what it is. 

“I just want Home of Hope to be able to serve everybody.”

Events like the gala help to get the word out to the community; it’s an invitation for people to walk into someone else’s situation and love them. 

Something powerful happens when we give what we have to serve someone else. . 

If you’d like to know more about Home of Hope and how you can get involved, visit homeofhopegcs.org.