What’s in a name?

Preferred pronunciation: Just-A

Justa was a woman who needed help and wasn’t getting it.

Justa was a woman with a problem. Her daughter was mentally ill. As a single mother, she wasn’t able to care for her daughter and keep her job. Eventually, they lost their housing and were unsheltered.

Justa heard about a city, not too far away with more resources and help. Upon arriving, she asked everyone and anyone where to find help. She begged for help, resources, food, but no one told her where to get help. Every time she found a safe place to sleep, locals would make her leave. Justa explained she had no where to go; they told her to go anywhere but here.

Justa learned that a respected healer would nearby. She went to find him, but the people and officials were keeping her back. Justa kept moving along the street crying out to talk to the healer. Some people ignored her, others yelled, cursed, and spit on her. Others discussed how those people shouldn’t be here. Most moved in front of her like she was invisible. Justa was humiliated, scared, but determined. She ran into the path of the healer. Members of his entourage wanted to send her away.

Justa asked for help. The healer said kindly, but not helpfully, “Woman, it isn’t right for me to help you. You wouldn’t take food from your daughter to feed the dogs, would you?” Even he wouldn’t help her. That did not deter Justa. She said, “If dogs can eat the scraps off your table, don’t I deserve that much?”

The healer was challenged to change his perspective. He told her, “Woman, your faith will heal your daughter and you.”

Justa had the audacity to ask Jesus for help, and when denied, she challenged his answer. She became the first non-Israelite woman to enter into what would become Christianity. The brief encounter can be found in the Christian New Testament book of Matthew, chapter 15 verses numbered 21-28.

Justa was a marginalized person

A woman, a gentile, and a foreigner, a triple marginalization. Not that different from many in our community today.

Like Justa, we believe that everyone deserves help, and no one should marginalized. Living up to her example, Justa Center is committed to speak the truth to power, to prevent inequity, and provide the help that needed without prejudice.

And like the healer in the story, we will learn from those we assist, adapt, and work to always do the right thing.

Our Values

Every person has the right to be treated with dignity and respect
Every person has the right to feel safe.
Every person has the right to have shelter, food, clothing and the basic amenities found in the average home. They should have their own home, if they so desire.
Every person being served must partner in the commitment to improve his/her life.
Every person should have access to opportunity for growth mentally, physically and spiritually.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

Reverend Scott Ritchey was serving as a chaplain at the United Methodist Outreach Ministry (UMOM) overflow shelter located at 1001 W Jefferson St in Phoenix in 2006. He observed a growing number of seniors in homeless. At that time, all adults aged 18 and older were provided the same services in the same manner. Working with those with lived-experience, they learned about the unique needs, limitations, and barriers to housing. Over 130 individuals were served that first year.

For the next nine years, Scott worked to shape programs, services and a culture. Justa Center lives those values today and every day. In a New York Times Magazine article in 2020, Justa Center was described as “small but mighty.”

Scott, in a report to the board wrote, “Every day really cool things happen. And then really, really cool things happen.”

On May 6, 2021, Scott said those words again when he awoke without pain, without illness, without sorrow, and seeing the face of his Creator and Savior.

Hear more about the origins and passion for seniors in homelessness that Rev. Scott Ritchey brings to this interview. As always, his humility and humor stand out.