Lutheran Social Services of the South

Name: Joy Loper
Agency:  Lutheran Social Services of the South
Years with the Agency:  20
Years in Non-Profit Work:  22
Hometown:  Ft. Stockton, Texas
College: Life Experience

Past Jobs before you were in Non-Profit Work: Owned her own Crafting Businesses, Police Department as Crime Prevention Secretary, Parks and Wildlife, Hale County Crisis Center

Family: 3 Daughters – Brandye, Shanna, and Amity – 12 grandchildren

Pets:  None

What are the most important rewards in your career and why did you choose it?
When she has a frustrated and frightened client come in and she has the ability to do the one thing that gives them a hand-up and they look at her and say, “Thank you SO much” with tears in their eyes. Lutheran Social Services mission is to do this “unto the least of these”.

What are your interests outside of work? Joy loves music and anything that involves music. She loves to sing and play the piano. She is a voracious reader and also likes arts and crafts.

What accomplishments have given you the most satisfaction and why? Raising her children to be moral, upright people and that she can see it trickling down through to her grandkids. Her children are the “delights of her life”. Who is your hero? Her grandfather. He and her grandmother raised Joy, and she feels that she could talk to him about anything. He was a water welder, and she loved fishing with him.

What two or three things are most important to you in your job? Making a difference in someone’s life. Being true to Lutheran Social Service’s supporters and making sure that she is a good steward of their generous gifts.

Where is your favorite place you have been on vacation and why? Her family took big family trip through the Southern States. She loved the warm and inviting people that they encountered as well as the green scenery and all things “old” in the south, homes, stories, and history.