LYNN — After nearly 20 years of dedicated service, Anthony Joseph has received the Boots on the Ground Leadership Award for his work at Volunteers of America.

The award honors an employee who exemplifies “outstanding leadership, vision, and compassion, as well as exemplifies VOA’s mission of serving those most in need, especially people facing multiple challenges,” according to a press release from Volunteers of America. 

Joseph works for VOAMASS, the Massachusetts division of the national organization. It is a nonprofit that provides programs and services to those who are most in need. 

Joseph, who has lived in Lynn for 26 years, has been working at VOAMASS since 2004 and is currently the director of residential services. He oversees five residential programs and manages 60 staff members who serve more than 100 people. 

“It’s phenomenal, day in and day out,” Joseph said.

He said he is rewarded each day as he gets to watch clients successfully recover and rejoin mainstream society.

“That’s the real reward of the work that we do,” he said. “Watching the people who become successful.”

“They’re back with their families, they are being productive members of society, managing their mental health, and managing their addiction,” he added. “I mean, that’s the real work.”

While he accepted the award, he said it really belongs to his staff members.

“It goes to the people like my program directors and their direct-care staff, because they’re the ones doing the work,” he said. “I am there to provide them support, help them out in any chance… but they are the ones doing the work. So the award, I accept it, but that’s really for them.”

He said his passion for his work lies in the organization’s mission of helping anybody and everybody.

Joseph reflected on his time at VOAMASS and said many people at the organization share his passion for nonprofit work, particularly Chief Operating Officer Mindy Miller.

“For years we would just call, we were both program directors at the time, and she would talk to me day-in and day-out on the drive home,” he said. “She would always talk about the vision that she sees for the agency. It’s just exciting to be part of it. Not in my wildest dreams would I ever think that I would be in the position that I’m in today and part of what we’re doing here at Volunteers of America.”

Miller called Joseph a dream employee. She said that Joseph has been an important figure in the agency’s shift to an integrated care model and has trained staff across the organization while presenting the model on a national level.

“Anthony’s professionalism, outstanding leadership skills, and commitment to supporting his staff are model qualities for all of us at VOAMASS,” Miller said. “He is easy to work with, smart, humble, kind, thoughtful, calm, and compassionate. He is a commissioned minister with Volunteers of America who possesses the qualities of a servant leader — he puts the needs of his staff first, creates a culture of trust, and empowers his team to grow and develop as leaders in their own right.”

Prior to being promoted to director of residential services in 2021, Joseph was the director of the Massachusetts Bay Veterans Center, where he provided clinical support for veterans.

VOAMASS CEO Charles Gagnon said in the press release that Joseph is “smart, innovative, and humble.”

“Anthony is a go-to guy within our organization and he is the epitome of a ‘boots on the ground’ leader. He is very deserving of this recognition,” Gagnon said in the release.