It all started when Dr. Margaret Queen-Flowers – Founder and CEO of Genesis Joy House Homeless Shelter— was 12 years old. Her grandmother took her along as she set up a stand at a Farmer’s Market every Saturday in Washington, D.C.
Many decades later, Margaret still cares for the homeless in Warner Robins. She is driven by a never-ending faith in God and an enduring concern for homeless female veterans.
“A woman who has served her country shouldn’t have to be homeless or lose her children when she returns,” says Margaret, whose son, husband, and late father-in-law were all veterans. “There are shelters for homeless male veterans, but none that are exclusively for homeless female veterans in the state of Georgia. It feels like they’ve been forgotten.”
Margaret and her husband, Edward Flowers, III, formed a nonprofit to advocate for homeless female veterans. In search of a property to utilize to provide temporary housing, they found just what they prayed for – A site with three buildings on one parcel—a duplex home, a fellowship hall building, and a five-unit studio apartment building. The property was donated to them by a businessman and can house up to eight homeless female veterans, and their minor dependent children per program cycle.
The work of Genesis Joy House is supported by the military members stationed at the Robins Airforce Base, the city’s mayor, the community, and many local church groups.
When talking about their search for homeless female veterans, Margaret says it’s an unforeseen challenge. “I have to go into wood encampments to seek them out,” she says. When weather allows, homeless women are seen living on ragged couches, and dispersed throughout the community.