1/18/2017: Our human services work at Samaritas is a daily fight for social justice for all people.

We believe that all people are equal in the eyes of God, equally deserving of care and opportunity and life potential fulfilled as much as humanly possible. In this way, we are doing the work of social justice.

In our Child and Family programs, we save children from child abuse and neglect; we seek to find justice for children who have been abused by either helping their family heal and having them return to their family or, when that is not possible, going to a forever adoption home.

We also help children heal from trauma and work toward being able to live full and healthy lives. If that’s not justice, I don’t know what is.

In our New Americans programs, we help refugees build new lives, safe lives, lives of opportunity. After enduring unspeakable trauma, we guide refugees to a home and a job and schools and everything they need to build a healthy life here in a way that optimizes their ability to thrive. Social justice is giving them the opportunity to successfully assimilate into their community, be self-sufficient, communicate, navigate the educational process and start fresh in a place where they truly have a future.

With disability services, we find justice for folks by ensuring that their needs are provided for and they are treated as persons of value, created in the image of God and so deserving of respect and care.

With affordable housing, we bring justice by helping people find a place to live that is safe, clean and well-maintained, where they are treated with dignity. In our affordable communities, it’s not just housing – there is a social element, helping otherwise isolated individuals find a true community, where they are surrounded by people they can relate to and who can and will support them.

In our senior nursing facilities, we intentionally make the choice to welcome those reliant on Medicaid, instead of only accepting Medicare or private insurance individuals, because we want to make sure their health needs are taken care of and they are treated with respect and dignity.

At our Family Center in Westland, we provide shelter for homeless families and advocate for secure and permanent housing, and help adults find employment and learn financial management skills, in a dedicated effort to lift people out of poverty.

At our Samaritas House, Detroit, we help women who violated the justice system and ended up in prison. As they finish their time, we extend grace and support to help them return to a productive, self-sufficient life.  Justice is about second chances. 

And at our Community Center in Saginaw, we help urban poor children thrive in school, through tutoring services, and we make sure they have one hot meal every day, serving families in a very disadvantaged situation and making sure they have experiences that will help them grow up and make good decisions and lead a better, more stable life.

Our mission is all about social justice, for social justice is a human value and we are in the business of human services. We are called, in scripture, to serve the widow and the orphan, to bring justice to anyone who has endured significant losses or hardships and who, as a result, are very vulnerable. This is the work of all humanity, putting social justice back into the conversation about human services.

Sam Beals is the former CEO of Samaritas.