Pilsen-Little Village, on Chicago's southwest side, is the largest Mexican community in the US next to East L.A., and the vibrant culture there greatly influenced Joel's life and art. During this time he worked various jobs, from roof construction to restaurant work, but it was community-based work that became Joel's passion and direction in life. He worked closely with schizophrenic patients in a mental health facility and then went on to work with the homeless population in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood as a homeless center and shelter supervisor.

Joel's son Jacob was a constant positive force in Joel's life. Jacob was born when Joel was still in high school and the relationship with Jacob's mother had not lasted. Despite this difficult situation Joel remained a dedicated father throughout the years, traveling long distances to visit his son regularly and developing a close bond which remains until today. In the following years Jacob moved to Florida and then California when his stepfather joined the navy, which influenced Joel's decision to move as well in order to live closer to his son.

Despite Joel's busy schedule of studying sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, working, visiting his son, and enjoying Chicago's culture and nightlife, Joel always found time to paint, often staying up most of the night creating large-scale and extremely detailed works of art that were intense, emotionally powerful, and increasingly socially conscious. Joel eventually turned to painting murals, and spent the summer of 2001 working on the mural "The Storm" in a Taylor Street cafe called Jamoch's (now called Demitasse Cafe).

During this period Joel spent time in Honduras and later in rural Dominican Republic, where he worked for short periods of time as a volunteer doing construction work and teaching. These experiences and the people he knew in these places were influential in his art as it evolved. After returning from the Dominican Republic in the summer of 2002, Joel lived for a short time in New Orleans before driving out to California with his son. After dropping his son off with his mother and stepfather, who had moved to Central California, Joel continued up to San Francisco's Mission District, a culturally-rich and strongly Central American and Mexican community known for its hundreds of beautiful, colorful murals.

While Joel struggled to find work and had to live for months in his car, he immediately set out to work on a large mural based on his experiences in the Dominican Republic. The mural, entitled "De Frontera a Frontera," was intricately painted with vibrant colors and took seven months to complete. It featured social commentary on the relationship between wealthy tourists, Dominicans, and Haitians on the island, as well as everyday scenes of life in rural and urban areas of the country. The mural, located at CELLspace on Bryant Street, made such an impact on the community that it was voted the "Best Public Mural" at the 2003 Precita Eyes mural award ceremony.

In the spring of 2004 Joel worked for an organization in El Salvador as a teacher, and he was also an International Election observer for the presidential elections that year. He made close Salvadoran friends who he traveled with around the country. When he returned to California, Joel painted a mural based on many of the people he had known and their stories about the tragic civil war and the social and political situations of that country, as well as everyday life in El Salvador. The mural, entitled "Un Pasado Que Aun Vive," is located in the Mission District's famous Balmy Alley.

In 2005 Joel painted "El Inmigrante" on the corner of 23rd Street and Shotwell, which was recently featured in the New York Times. This mural is a story about a character who was based on the lives of many of Joel's close friends as well as people he has lived with in the Bay Area, who are from Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Brazil, Iraq, and other countries. The mural shows the beauty and the hardships of the character's home country, his journey to the US, and his overwhelming new life in the large American city.

In the fall of 2005 Joel went to Salvador da Bahia, in Brazil, to live with the family of some friends. During these months Joel taught English and art classes for children and learned Brazilian Portuguese. He lived in a community of Candomble, an Afro-Brazilian religion, and painted four paintings of the deities, known as Orixas, for the community. Joel returned to the Bay Area, where he worked on public art projects celebrating the culture and traditions of Bahia, the first of which is located in the "Brazil Cafe," a Brazilian restaurant on University Street in Berkeley. He also painted a mural called "Sob o Sol dos Orixas," which is located on 24th Street and Capp Street in the Mission.

During Joel's four years living in San Francisco, he worked in a treatment center for emotionally troubled teenagers who were struggling with violence, suicide, drugs, and other issues. He recently moved to Washington, DC, where he has been working with youth, refugees, and immigrants from many different countries. He is planning a mural for the DC Rape Crisis Center that deals with issues such as sexual violence and domestic violence. Joel is also the managing director of an upcoming public art project sponsored by the International Rescue Committee's local refugee resettlement office in Silver Spring, Maryland, called the "Global Cultures Mural Project." It will feature murals by many artists from around the world, and will celebrate various cultures and deal with social issues such as human rights, the environment, and women's rights. The project is intended to be the first of many such projects in cities around the country and around the world.