Joy Meadows is a foster care community located in Linwood, KS. It was started by former audio/video teacher Justin Oberndorfer and his family. The goal of Joy Meadows is to provide resources to children who are in the foster care system by giving them a loving and safe community for both the children and their foster families. 

“The idea of Joy Meadows has been around for a long time. We bought the property a few months ago, and we moved in at the beginning of quarantine,” said junior Jackson Oberndorfer. 

When a foster child enters Joy Meadows, they are provided with resources to incoming foster children such as housing, clothes and other essential items that the child might not have. The facility will even provide other resources such as therapists, to help children who may be dealing with trauma. 

“It’s a really cool process to watch being developed, it’s something that my family has thought about doing for a long time and it’s nice to watch it all finally come together,” said Oberndorfer. 

Joy Meadows has undergone construction and renovations in order to accommodate for future foster families. 

“We recently added a barn to the property, and now we have goats, sheep, chickens and even a horse is on the property for the families to enjoy,” said Oberndorfer. 

Joy Meadows recently got a sponsorship deal with Nebraska Furniture Mart, where they can be provided with 

“I think what they are doing at Joy Meadows is amazing. When students in my family studies class and members of FCCLA choose to work with them I get so excited! I love working with them and supporting them in any way we can. They are so great to work with and it’s such a great cause!,” said FACS teacher Meg Marquardt. 

With the help of many volunteers who have joined the cause, Joy Meadows was able to build and grow into a place where many foster children will be able to have a home and live in a community that will uplift and support them. 

“Our ultimate goal is to be able to expand our location and build for a lot of future families that we hope to help. We want to create it into a business, and we want to help as many families as possible. In the end, we are doing this all to help the kids, and help them get out of bad living situations by giving them a place to stay where they are accepted and advocated for,” said Oberndorfer.