
Joyce’s House Education Center, Mercedez Butts
Mercedez Butts is all about helping people. More than five years ago, she opened Joyce’s House, a recovery home for women healing from addiction named after her grandmother. That made such an impact that she was named Wisconsin’s Remarkable Woman of the Year in 2020.
A little over a year ago, she transitioned that to Joyce’s House Education Center, which focuses on providing accessible and affordable educational opportunities, helping people obtain their GEDs and providing other career training.
But at the beginning, Butts didn’t know much about starting a business. So she enrolled in the African American Chamber’s Rise program, which included a partnership with SCORE, leading to her long-lasting partnership with her mentor, Mark Ship.
“Oh my god, I don’t even know where to begin to explain how many times and ways Mark has helped me succeed,” said Butts. “His most important lesson that sticks with me today is that ‘hope’ is not a strategy. However, through weekly meetings at the beginning, he got me to understand what I needed to know about running a business, eventually convincing me to start a non-profit, which is how we operate today.
“Mark taught me to better articulate my ‘want’ and ‘ask,’ which have been the keys to my success.”
Why the big transition?
Butts says she surveyed several people on what would be the better investment of $169 to provide housing for a woman working to overcome addiction for a week or to help somebody obtain their GED. It was almost unanimous that the education was more valuable.
“Education impacts everyone,” she says. “Recovery is everyone’s issue, but society doesn’t view it that way. Education impacts everyone, including our overall workforce.”
Success is compounded
Not only is her current business successful, but thanks to her positive impact on the broader community, she’s garnered grant money from several sources to help serve a broader range of clients. She was recently awarded a Greater Milwaukee Foundation Grant for one year’s worth of operating expenses. She was the grand prize winner of the recent Near West Side Partners pitch competition, which included a grant of $11,000 and $25,000 of various in-kind services.
Through it all, Butts gives a lot of credit to the support of her mentor.
“I literally tell anybody who has a business they should get a SCORE mentor,” she says. “Everybody needs one so they can learn what works for them. It’s vital to have somebody to hold your hand, not judge you, and give candid and helpful feedback.”
Butts and Ship still touch base a few times a year now, and Butts says that’s really appreciated.
“The business is a baby, and it has to grow up, make mistakes and learn. Mark helped me to fly solo now.”

I greatly enjoy helping individuals and teams succeed. I have a straight forward, inquisitive and...