We recently connected with Hannah Joya and have shared our conversation below.

Hannah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Wheels of Joya is the nonprofit my mom and I started in honor of my dad, Dr. Danny Joya. He was a quadriplegic for 28 years and spent the last six years of his life on life support. From the moment I was born, my dad lived with paralysis, so I never knew life without wheelchairs, hospital stays, or medical equipment in the background. And yet, he was the strongest, kindest, most joyful person I’ve ever known.

We spent years in hospitals, nursing homes, and long-term care, places where disability, grief, and hardship were part of everyday life. But in those spaces, my mom and I began to find something unexpected: purpose. We started noticing the people around us, those facing their own challenges, often in silence. Patients who had no one visiting. Families carrying heavy loads. Even in the midst of our own pain, we felt called to bring light into those moments.

That’s where the heart of Wheels of Joya began.

Our nonprofit exists to bring hope, love, and joy to individuals and families affected hardship or simply a difficult season. We serve children with special needs, disabilities, seniors in memory care, and those who often feel overlooked. We create moments that remind people they’re seen, valued, and not alone.

Wheels of Joya carries forward my dad’s legacy not just by honoring his memory, but by living out the compassion and resilience he showed every day. This isn’t just our nonprofit. It’s our family’s story and mission. And it’s our way of turning love into action one life, one smile, one moment at a time.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hiiii! Hannah Joya here, co-founder and CEO of Wheels of Joya, a nonprofit I run with my amazing, remarkable mom, who also serves as vice president and co-founder. We started it in honor of my dad, Dr. Danny Joya, who was paralyzed for 28 years and on life support for the last six. I was born into a world of hospitals, wheelchairs, and medical challenges but also into a home full of joy, strength, and purpose. That shaped everything for me.

We didn’t plan to start a nonprofit. It grew naturally out of how we lived. My mom and I spent so much time in nursing homes and hospital rooms, not just caring for my dad, but noticing others around us who were hurting. Over time, God placed it on our hearts to keep showing up for those people, the forgotten ones, the overwhelmed families, the ones who just needed someone to care.

Wheels of Joya is all about that: showing up for people who are going through something hard. Whether it’s organizing a fun craft event at a nursing home or in the disability or special needs community, dropping off a personalized care package to someone who hasn’t had a visitor in decades, or helping support a struggling special needs orphanage, we create thoughtful, meaningful moments that remind people they’re not alone.

We don’t do flashy. We do real. Everything we give comes from the heart and often from experience. I know what it feels like to grieve, to serve out of brokenness, and to find beauty in places most people overlook.

What makes us different? Honestly, this isn’t just a cause for us. It’s our actual life story. This is the legacy my dad left behind, and it’s the one we carry forward every single day.

I’m proud of the impact we’ve made, but I’m even more proud of how we do it, with love, with intention, and with people at the center of it all.

At the end of the day, Wheels of Joya is about showing people they are seen, valued, and loved and that no one has to face life’s challenges alone.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Can I share a story that illustrates resilience? Absolutely, because my life has been shaped by it.

When my dad passed away in 2018, everything in me broke. He had been paralyzed for 28 years and on life support the last six. From the moment I was born, that was the reality of our family, hospital stays, medical equipment, long nights. And through it all, my parents showed what real strength and sacrificial love looks like. My dad faced the impossible with grace and grit, and my mom cared for him through more than half of their marriage while raising a teenage son and newborn me.

After he passed, I honestly didn’t know how to move forward. Grief felt heavy and constant. But in the middle of that pain, I started writing. A few of my books were published during that season, and I found myself slowly connecting with others who were hurting too.

That’s when my mom and I started doing what we’d always done, showing up for people going through hard things. That’s how the heart of our nonprofit, Wheels of Joya, came to life. And earlier this year, we made it official so we could continue honoring my dad’s legacy in a real, tangible way.

Grief still comes in waves. But every time we serve someone through Wheels of Joya, it feels like he’s right there beside us. That’s resilience to me: continuing on with love, with purpose, and with the quiet strength that comes from everything we’ve lived through.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Yes, there’s absolutely a mission behind Wheels of Joya and it’s one that’s deeply personal to me and my mom. We didn’t start with a business plan or a strategy. We started with heart. After years of living in and out of hospitals and long-term care with my dad, we saw what a quiet crisis looks like, people isolated by disability, grief, or just hard life circumstances. And we couldn’t ignore it.

Wheels of Joya was born from that ache to do something. To bring beauty into places that felt forgotten. To bring comfort, even if just for a moment. And to remind people especially those carrying heavy loads that they are not invisible, and they are not alone.

.We’re here to be faithful with what we’ve lived through. Every care package we deliver, every visit we make, every small act of kindness it all comes from a place of wanting to reflect God’s love in a tangible way.

At the end of the day, the mission is simple: to bring joy where it’s needed most. And if someone feels a little more seen, a little more loved, a little more hopeful, then that’s everything to us.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wheelsofjoya.org
• Instagram: wheelsofjoya
• Facebook: Wheels of Joya
• Other: Tiktok: wheels.of.joya
  Email: [email protected]