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Homeless seniors are a growing population. A May 2 benefit dinner can help. File photo from Justa Center.

Scott Venable was in a bad place.

The 57-year-old worked installing ventilation systems in big buildings for years until a heart injury left him jobless in 2000. After a heart-bypass surgery in 2002, he was officially listed as disabled and moved in with one of his daughters.

When she lost her house shortly thereafter, it seemed like there was no place for Venable to go.

“The situation was kind of hopeless,” he said.

That’s how an article Andrew wrote about Ozanam Manor last year started out. Ozanam Manor, is where Venable ended up to help him get back on his feet. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul runs the transitional housing facility for homeless men and women ages 50 and up. Roughly 150 clients pass through each year.

The Ecumenical Chaplaincy for the Homeless runs a similar operation through the Justa Center. The resource center provides daily more than 100 seniors — half of whom are veterans — with showers, Internet use, respite beds, laundry facilities and access to bankers, health care experts and social workers to help them get back on their feet.

The need to help this segment of the population — whether through the Justa Center or Ozanam Manor — is dire. People ages 55 and up are the fastest growing population of homeless in the country, according to an organizer of an upcoming benefit event for the Justa Center.

Several dozen Catholics at three Valley parishes are behind it. They’re hoping others will help too by attending a benefit dinner May 2.

According to Jozef De Groot, parishioner at St. Patrick Parish in Scottsdale and member of a JustFaith Group which is behind the “Cultivate Hope” fundraiser, said:

The Justa Center provides resources to help homeless seniors re-gain hope.

The staff at the Justa Center work tirelessly for these individuals, helping them secure the benefits to which they’re entitle and also find affordable housing that is often in short supply. 

Ecumenical Chaplaincy for the Homeless and Justa Center is a remarkable place where lives are transformed daily. The Center does not receive any government support. It operates solely on private donations and gifts.

St. Patrick’s, St. Timothy Parish in Mesa and Our Lady of the Angels Conventual Church at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale are hosting the dinner. It will be held 6:30 p.m. May 2 at St. Patrick Parish and is open to the public.

Tickets are $25 each. For more information, contact Jozef at degroot1@q.com or Nancy nancywow16@yahoo.com.