Joshua’s House pays it forward

Joshua’s House, located at 55 1/2 North Ave. in Owego, N.Y., a teen center in the alley way between North and Central Avenues, recently held a drive to collect food items for people in need. Partnering with Abide in the Vine Fellowship, and through some friendly competition between the two groups, hundreds of food items, school supplies and personal hygiene items were collected.

Now in its third year, Joshua’s House is a teen activity center and gathering place that creates a safe environment for Owego and Tioga County youth to belong, and fosters positive interaction from adult volunteers.

Chuck Relyea, founder of the teen center as well as an associate pastor at Abide in the Vine, is pleased that the young people stepped up to take on the challenge of a food drive competition, an idea they came up with themselves. Relyea teaches the young people that it is better to give than to receive and to consider others over themselves.

“It’s a practical lesson for them,” Relyea said, adding, “And in the end, they all felt good about what they did.”

Relyea explained that the youth, from ages 13 to 17, will also get involved in delivering the food items to local food pantries, which he is planning during the youth’s school break for Christmas.  

The tally read 566 items for Joshua’s House and 269 items from the church, and Relyea said there is even more, and all of which has been collected in just under three weeks. Youth who collected the most items were rewarded with special activities, one of which was a field trip to Midway Lanes.

A long time Tioga County resident, Relyea, now in his forties, knows first-hand how easy it is for youth to get involved in troublesome situations, because he did in his younger days.        

Relyea explained that he often challenges youth who are struggling at school to work hard at improving their grades, and in return rewards them. Relyea smiled as he shared two success stories of young people who had dropped out of high school, but later put in the effort to acquire their GED’s, one of which is in his first semester at a local community college.

“There is a lot of good in these kids,” Relyea said, “And we’re trying to make connections to help them as much as we can.”

Joshua’s House, named after a local young man who battled addiction and transitioned to sobriety, but then succumbed to an overdose, offers today’s youth an opportunity to get involved in multiple activities while hanging out in a safe place, and has become a Friday evening retreat to stay off the streets.

For more information, find Joshua’s House on Facebook.