“Joe moved here from Texas almost four years ago. I think he’d...

“Joe moved here from Texas almost four years ago.  I think he’d been living a pretty idyllic life, nice house, nice family.  But shortly after arriving in Spokane, things began to unravel for reasons outside of his control.  Our homeless shelter was looking for a new director at the time, and I was part of the hiring team.  Within thirty seconds of Joe walking through the door, I thought: ‘This is our guy.’  He didn’t even wait for a question.  He knew all the statistics, and was full of ideas: ‘Spokane needs this, Spokane needs that.’  You could just tell how much he cared.  As soon as we hired him, he hit the ground running.  He was determined to open a 24/7 family shelter before the snow started falling.  Joe was the hardest worker I’d ever seen.  He’d get on the ground with these kids, and fight for them with tears in his eyes.  During his first two years at our shelter, I know things were difficult in his personal life.  His marriage was falling apart.  His son was diagnosed with autism.  But he dealt with his pain by focusing on families who were in even greater need.  One day we were sitting in his office, discussing his personal struggles, when he suddenly changed the subject.  He began to talk about a family we were helping, and he got emotional.  I couldn’t tell which family he was crying about—the shelter’s, or his own.   Helping people was how he coped.  When Joe first arrived, our shelter only had fifteen beds.  Now it’s up to seventy-five, and over a thousand people have been rehomed.  That’s because of his hard work.  And I’d like him to get some credit for that.  Joe Ader is one of the best people this city has.”
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