St. Patrick's Catholic Community and Silverado Senior Living are throwing a Mardi Gras party to benefit the Justa Center, and you are invited!
Join us on Saturday, February 18, at St. Patrick's Fenlon Hall ( 10815 N. 84th St., Scottsdale ) for a casual evening of Cajun food, raffles, silent auctions, and N’awlins-style jazz. The festivities start at 6:30 p.m., and tickets are $30 each. Can't make it but would still like to donate? Click on the "donate" button to make your contribution, which may qualify for a tax credit in the State of Arizona.
Let the good times roll, while helping the Justa Center continue its mission of finding homes and needed services for homeless senior citizens.
For homeless senior citizens in the Phoenix area, the answer is the Justa Center, a day resource center specifically designed to help those over the age of 55 find appropriate housing, employment, and other needed services.
The streets are not safe for homeless individuals in general, but older people are particularly vulnerable. Justa Center is a day resource center for those individuals over the age of 55 who have nowhere to live.
Justa Center is the only facility in the Phoenix area that caters specifically to older homeless adults. Staff members work with individuals to locate earned benefits (e.g., social security, AHCCCS, VA), obtain housing and medical assistance, and provide referrals to other services for the poor and homeless in the community.
The Center basically acts as a safety net for people who all too often, slip through the cracks. Our members are individuals who have few resources and even fewer friends and family members on whom they can count for help.
An integral part of this safety net involves helping members address the problems that have caused their homelessness, which can include catastrophic medical issues, job loss, substance abuse, and/or mental health issues. Once members move out, the safety net continues, as Justa staff visit periodically to ensure they are doing well on their own.
On a given day, more than 100 homeless seniors seek help at Justa Center. Since it opened its doors in 2006, the Center has helped approximately one person escape homelessness each day.
In addition to providing access to a number of social services, Justa Center offers some unique amenities to homeless seniors, including showers, restrooms, laundry facilities, computers and Internet access, lockers, coffee, books, and TV.
Justa Center helps senior homeless veterans rebuild their lives and find safe places to live.
People often ask why we are called Justa Center. The name comes from the famous passage in Matthew (15:21-28), in which a Canaanite woman comes to Jesus, asking him to save her daughter, who is possessed by a demon. Jesus ignores her at first, and his disciples urge him to send her away. Finally Jesus answers that he was sent to help the lost sheep of Israel, and that "it is not right to take the children's food and toss it to the dogs." The woman persists, though, kneeling in front of Jesus and stating, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed.
Consider the courage it took for that woman to confront Jesus in such a way. Women had little or no status at that time, and for a woman of the "wrong" religion to approach Jesus in the first place was unheard of. In order to save her daughter, though, she would not take "no" for an answer. She demanded to be noticed so that she could obtain the help she needed. While the Bible does not specifically name this Canaanite woman, a Pseudo-Clementine epistle gives her the name of "Justa," and we decided to use that name to represent all the marginalized people in our society who seek our help on a daily basis. As Justa showed us, every person has rights and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and that is what we attempt to do every day at Justa Center.
Justa Center
1001 W. Jefferson
Phoenix AZ 85007
Rev. Scott Ritchey
Phone: 602-254-6524
Email: scott_justacenter.org
The homeless seniors who seek help at Justa Center are an amazing group of people who have remarkable life stories to tell. If you’d like to have them share their journeys from homelessness to self-sufficiency at your public, private, or religious organization, please contact us.
Additionally, Justa Center staff and members of the advisory board would be happy to speak to your group about the history and goals of the Justa Center. Contact Rev. Scott Ritchey at scott_justacenter.org for more information.
The Justa Center is a remarkable places where lives are transformed daily. We do not receive any government funds; we operate solely on private donations and gifts. Without your generous support, this important work could not be accomplished.
The Justa Center is a division of Central United Community Services (CUCS), an Arizona 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, and donations may qualify for a federal tax deduction.
In addition to being a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, the Justa Center is also a charitable organization that qualifies for the Arizona Income Tax Credit for Contributions to Charities That Provide Assistance to the Working Poor program. As such, contributions may qualify for an Arizona income tax credit up to $400 (married, filing jointly, $200 filing single).
Contributions to Justa that are over the tax credit amount are still deductible from Arizona taxable income as charitable contributions. Claiming the tax credit for contributions to Justa Center does not preclude residents from taking any other Arizona income tax credits (e.g., public and private school donations) up to the amount of their tax liability. The details of the credit and related instructions can be found on Arizona Form 321 .
Donate now via Paypal:
Justa Center has now established a brokerage account to receive gifts of stock and other marketable securities.
Gifts of securities present a unique opportunity to the giver. The present market value of the shares can be claimed as a charitable deduction for both Federal and state returns, regardless of the original cost basis of the shares. The same shares sold by the owner, however, results in a tax liability in the amount of the gain. Thus the gift to a qualified charity such as the Justa Center (a 501c3 charitable organization under the IRS regulations) is effectively made with after-tax dollars.
For more information concerning donating securities to Justa Center, contact:
Mr. Kal Jamsa, Vice President
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
16150 N. Arrowhead Fountain Center Drive, Suite 200
Peoria, AZ 85382
Telephone: 623-334-2020
Non-monetary donations are welcome. Items regularly needed to help with the day-to-day operations of the Justa Center include:
Have an old laptop, iPod or other electronics lying around? Donate them to Justa Center using justacenter.gazelle.com .
Volunteers are always welcome at the Justa Center, and there is a special need for volunteer dentists, podiatrists, nurses, eye doctors, and hair stylists, who can offer their professional services to our homeless seniors. To volunteer, contact Rev. Scott at scott_justacenter.org.
Justa Center executive director, Scott Ritchey, recently appeared on the local PBS show, Horizon, to discuss the organization's mission, as well as its unique challenges.
The streets are not safe for homeless individuals in general, but older people are particularly vulnerable. In fact, approximately 27 percent of the homeless victims of violent crimes are between 50 and 59 years of age.
Recently, 60-year old "Bill," was beaten up and sexually assaulted by a gang of young men. Bill was humiliated and shamed by this experience, but finally confided in the staff at Justa Center. Housing specialist, Sherman, was able to quickly secure housing for him through the generosity of a local apartment landlord, who agreed to only charge $275/month for emergency situations. Bill is now safe and recovering from this brutal trauma.
Unfortunately, we're seeing an increase in the need for emergency accommodations, which is why we are creating a designated fund specifically for these situations. If you would like to donate to this fund, please donate through Paypal:
Do you have furniture in good condition that you no longer need, such as couches, tables, or chairs? If so, please consider donating them to Justa Center. We move many seniors into apartments every month, and we provide each one with at least some furniture, so they have somewhere to sit.
We also have a need for NEW twin-size beds, which we provide to each senior moving into an apartment. If you can donate any of these items, please bring them to Justa Center as soon as possible.
If you have a truck and wouldn't mind picking up furniture from those who are donating it, please contact Sherman .
Tim came to the Justa Center two years ago with no income and no place to live. After 10 months of being homeless, Tim began to work part-time at the Justa Center through our AgeWorks program. This is a federally sponsored program that helps re-train older adults, so that they can return to the workforce.
With a small but stable income source, the Justa Center was able to find Tim housing, and for the past year, he has been a model employee. Unfortunately, Tim also has COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), which requires on-going medication. In Arizona, Medicaid recipients must now come up with a co-pay for their prescriptions, and with little discretionary income, Tim simply does not have the money for his monthly co-pay.
In response to this predicament, the Justa Center has created a designated fund to help folks like Tim with their co-pays. This fund is used exlusively to help people like Tim stay healthy and productive. If you -- or your church or community group -- would like to designate your funds to help those who need medications but cannot afford them, please donate through Paypal:
Joan was a successful Physician's Assistant until she began suffering from chronic, undiagnosed joint pain. Unable to work, she found herself homeless when the house she was renting went into foreclosure. Desperate about her situation, Joan attempted suicide last year, which landed her in an emergency room. After being stitched up, she was sent back to the streets, where she eventually found her way to the Justa Center.
Justa staff helped Joan connect with an AHCCCS physician, who diagnosed the cause of her chronic joint pain: malignant bone disease. She is now being treated and feels better than she has in years. Last month, Justa's housing specialist, Sherman, found Joan an apartment, and she is now off the streets. She will begin classes in the fall to become a paralegal and hopes to specialize in medical malpractice.
Thanks to your generous support, Justa Center was able to help Joan get back on her feet. As Joan was moving into her apartment, she asked us to thank everyone for their help: "My life has been transformed. I am so grateful to everyone who cares for us older people. Without your help, I would still be in pain, homeless, and hopeless. I am so grateful."
Hector got his first job when he was 15 years old, working as a bag boy in a grocery store. Since then he's been a custodian, construction worker, and meat cutter. And then the economy collapsed and for the first time at the age of 60, Hector was unemployed. Hector filed for unemployment and began to look for work, but there was nothing. He didn't make nearly enough money to pay the rent, and when his unemployment ran out, he found himself on the streets.
When Hector heard about Justa Center, he took full advantage of the services offered. He applied for and was hired by the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), a job training program for older adults. Now that Hector is working 20 hours a week at Justa Center, he is earning enough to qualify for subsidized housing, and he moved into his apartment on March 3.
Come and join us at 10:00 a.m. every Sunday morning for worship. Reverend Scott Ritchey leads the hour-long service in the Justa Center's Chapel each week. All denominations are welcome, and communion is offered to everyone who attends.
Rev. Ritchey has served as an associate pastor at Scottsdale United Methodist Church and also as an associate pastor at First United Methodist Church of Phoenix.
Show your support by wearing a Justa Center baseball hat, T-shirt, or polo shirt. To order, contact Scott Ritchey at scott_justacenter.org .
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