Our story
Joseph Camps grew out of a season of life that founder Joe never forgot.
Decades later, those experiences became part of the reason Joseph Camps exists today.
A childhood without stable ground
When Joe was seven or eight, his mother made the decision to leave his father, who became violent when he drank, and take Joe and his younger sister with her.
From that point forward, the family moved constantly. Sometimes they stayed with relatives, sometimes friends, and sometimes wherever someone had enough room to take them in. They rarely stayed anywhere longer than six months to a year.
That instability followed Joe through school. He struggled academically, was held back in second grade, and was later diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. At an age when most kids are beginning to figure out who they are, Joe was learning how to adapt to another move, another school and another place that never quite felt permanent.
The Christmas he never forgot
In 1985, when Joe was fifteen, the family had made their way to San Diego. From Thanksgiving through New Year’s, Joe, his mother and his younger sister lived in a homeless shelter.
That Christmas, his wish list was simple: underwear, socks, batteries for the boombox he had earned working a summer job, and a set of colored pens so he could keep drawing.
He received everything on the list.
More than forty years later, that Christmas is still one of the ones he remembers most clearly. Not because of what he didn’t have, but because ordinary things suddenly meant so much. Clean socks mattered. Underwear mattered. Batteries meant music. The colored pens meant that even in the middle of survival, there was still room to create.
That experience taught him something he would carry for the rest of his life: when someone is going through a hard season, what looks small from the outside can mean everything to the person receiving it.
Why Joseph Camps
Joe’s life moved forward. His family eventually settled in Las Vegas, and over the years he worked, raised a family, built businesses and spent decades creating and helping other people build theirs.
But the experience of instability never completely left him.
Joseph Camps was born from the belief that people experiencing homelessness need more than sympathy and more than a temporary place to sleep. They need dignity, practical help, stability and people who are willing to stay involved long enough for the next step to become possible.
The name comes from the biblical story of Joseph, whose life moved through rejection, loss and the pit before becoming a source of provision for others.
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Genesis 50:20
That verse became the heart behind the mission.
From the Pit to Provision.
What comes next
Joseph Camps is beginning in Oregon with a vision to create places where people can find shelter, food, clothing, health support and a real opportunity to begin rebuilding their lives.
Joe knows firsthand that the person walking through the door may be carrying far more than anyone can see. They may also be carrying gifts, ideas, dreams and a future that has not disappeared simply because life became difficult.
That is why Joseph Camps is being built around one simple conviction:
Meet the need without losing sight of the person.
This story began decades ago in a shelter in San Diego. What happens next will be built by the people who choose to become part of it.
