Intern Impact Spotlight: Joy

Joy's journey at CEDARS began in March 1993 as an intern at Teaching and Learning with Children (TLC) Group Home for teen moms. At the time, she was in the Human Services program at Southeast Community College and ultimately completed three clinicals at TLC. 

"I pursued an internship at CEDARS TLC because it was a unique group home to serve state wards or probation teens who were pregnant and/or parenting," said Joy. "The philosophy of the program and clientele interested me. I wanted to learn more about the program while gaining experience working with teen moms." 

The internship experience helped her grow professionally through the opportunity to work with the shift leads at TLC."I learned the ins and outs of the program, from behavior management to case management to running a shift. The positive interactions with the clients made the intern experience even more fulfilling," she shared. 

Joy says she has many great memories from her time as an intern, but one that she is forever grateful for is when her intern supervisor encouraged her to apply for a permanent position. She applied and found her fit at CEDARS as a part-time youth specialist. 

The flexible schedule allowed her to complete a bachelor's degree at Doane, and after graduation, Joy was promoted to a full-time family specialist position in which she worked with teen moms experiencing homelessness. After spending several years in direct care, Joy found her next fit with the Human Resources team in 2001, where you can visit her today! 

Growing up, Joy spent time living in Colorado, Missouri, and Nebraska. The youngest of five, she says she is a kid at heart. Joy's daughter is her whole world - along with their fur-baby Daisy, a Great Dane-Poodle. Three years ago, Joy was diagnosed with lymphoma, and she says she is blessed to be a cancer survivor. 

"Life looks different, but I am grateful for my journey and the people in my life, like my CEDARS family," shares Joy. 

In her free time, Joy likes to take long walks with Daisy, socialize with friends, and attempt to play golf. A fun fact about Joy is that she is a HUGE Shinedown fan and has attended their concerts 11 times!