FaithWorks formed in the mind and heart of Joyce Dalzell several years before the first class began in 2003. It was while she was volunteering at a local food pantry that she realized that the people being served “just have never learned the skills they need to find a good job and be a good employee.” At that time, Joyce was employed as a human resource specialist. (Well, she still is, in a way.)
Joyce and others prayed about the possibility of a training center for unemployed adults for over a year before doors started opening. Joyce visited a similar program, Hope Works, in Memphis, and she was hooked. She received training in the Adkins Life Skills Program at Columbia University in New York. The Highland Church of Christ elders blessed this fledgling ministry, provided a space for it to start, and the first class met in January of 2003.