“I have friendships with people here that will last a lifetime,” says Anna Pesnell, who lives at Joshua Station as a resident volunteer. “With residents, staff, and other volunteers.”
Anna’s role is vital to the Joshua Station community. Unlike other residents who arrive out of stressful situations of homelessness, resident volunteers bring a consistent presence of stability and loving companionship to shared life in our repurposed motel. It’s part of the healing mix in the two years our families spend with us.
For Anna, like other residents, Joshua Station has been utterly life-transforming.
“I grew up in a Christian environment, in a very comfortable way,” Anna reflects. “People were nice, but they didn’t often gravitate toward those who didn’t look or think or feel like them—much less intentionally go out of their way. Even as a child, I longed to surround myself with people who had different life experiences. I wanted a bigger, more diverse picture of God’s kingdom—something that better represented what I imagine heaven might look like.”
As a college student in Alabama, Anna applied for a summer internship and was placed across the country in Denver. Her internship team was connected to a local Denver church and assigned two days a week at Joshua Station. They sweated through heavy work moving furniture or doing landscaping during that scorching summer. “We had (facilities manager) Dylan to thank for that,” she laughs, “but we never complained; we loved being part of things here.” The team also helped with day camp activities for our resident kids.
“That summer awakened a passion I didn’t know I had. “Working with families who have gone through trauma, and doing it together, would become my life’s work.”
After graduating with a degree in psychology, Anna knew she would be back. She was overjoyed to be offered a resident volunteer position at Joshua Station in 2021. “Ben Sooy (volunteer coordinator at the time) drove me straight from Denver International Airport and we unloaded into my room at Joshua Station. I completely melted into the culture here.”
Anna says she enjoyed being around our families even more than she might have imagined. Her favorite word to describe it? Amongst. “Being amongst friends, doing ordinary fun things together like board games and card games—Dutch Blitz, Cataan, Spicy Uno. We can drop our masks because we don’t have to be some version of ourselves that we aren’t. We care about each other because we ARE each other.”
Now pursuing her master’s degree in counseling, Anna is gaining new tools for companionship and advocacy. “In counseling we use the phrase unconditional positive regard. It means that I will always be for you, even if you are at your worst. When I need to be firm or stern with our resident children, they will always know that I’m ready to embrace them. They might feel the rest of the world is against them, but I’ll always be for them.”
Anna reflects with grateful amazement on her childhood desires, her college major, the summer internship placement, the timing of the resident volunteer opening, the awakenings and groundings in the Joshua Station community, her professional path, and her spiritual journey. “It’s as if the coordinates of my life have aligned precisely according to how God is forming me.”
It’s been a long beautiful journey home.
Help us raise $150,000 for our Joshua Station families by April 9!
Please also join us and invite friends to our
Spring Into Caring Celebration Event
When: Thursday April 9, 5:15-7:00pm
Where: Mile High Ministries, 913 North Wyandot Street, Denver
What: Come enjoy hearty appetizers and beverages in a relaxed setting, with exciting program updates by staff in our Wyandot Building (located next to Joshua Station). Then we’ll go next door to Joshua Station for dessert with our wonderful residents.
RSVP by Sunday April 5:
For more information about our April 9 gathering, please call Shana at 720-756-7214.
