Joshua's House

What is Joshua's House?

Joshua's House is a federally recognized 501 ( C ) 3 non-profit organization founded in Irasburg, VT, dedicated to preventing homelessness, and helping the homeless. Joshua's House mission is to meet the needs of the homeless population in Vermont that results from unemployment and underemployment and related human environmental issues. Our objectives are to support and shelter the homeless short-term and to help prevent homelessness through emergency support for basic necessities. Joshua House board and volunteers seek to empower each individual to find support, love, caring and outreach from us - their community family.
We are a Christian organization that will provide service to people from all walks of life.

History

Joshua's House began 14 years ago with two individuals helping folks in need of a meal or a ride to a medical facility or service agency. We expanded to have a Board of Directors who applied for, and received Vermont non-profit status. As time passed we saw the need for basic necessities grow. We also needed to grow and applied for federal non-profit status. In April of 2008 we were given an advanced ruling as a public charity by the IRS and are recognized by the federal government as eligible to accept tax deductible donations, gifts, bequests, and stocks. Our long range goal is to provide networking with the services that will help people become self-supporting.

What is our purpose?

Joshua's House a federally recognized 501 ( C ) 3 non-profit organization founded in Irasburg, VT, is dedicated to preventing homelessness. We also work to help those who are homeless get established with the support of local area agencies. Our purpose is to provide resources to help meet the need for fuel, housing, transportation (gas cards), medical co-pays (for elderly in the donut-hole of Medicare) and caused by unexpected circumstances. We are a Christian organization that will provide service to people from all walks of life.

Where is Joshua's House located?

We are a virtual homeless shelter. In other words we provide support, with very little overhead and like those we serve, we are in a sense homeless. We do not have an office or a facility. Our meetings are held in board member living rooms, where we share a meal, our plans, report out on how we have helped our neighbors during the past month, and what we have received for donations.

Who do we help?

In some cases we do not know the names of the neighbors we help, as most of our support goes through area agencies and churches. Anonymity and confidentiality are critical to our services. We never give funds to an individual all support is provided directly to a vendor, or passes through an agency or church depending upon the circumstances.

Where do our funds come from?

During the past five years we have been blessed with contributors who send a check each month, we send an annual fund request, we are the beneficiary of the work of church groups and students in special fundraisers, as well as very caring people who send unsolicited donations.