On July 23, around 7 a.m., Tika Justice’s 20-year-old daughter heard a strange noise that caused her to leave her house on Broad Street in Hamilton.
Justice, 38, and her 16-year-old daughter did not. And so, as the structure collapsed around them, Justice did what any parent would do—she shielded her daughter from the danger.
Justice died in the house collapse trying to protect her young daughter, who suffered damage to her pelvis. Pastor Joseph Woods of Saint Phillips Baptist Church, who with Mayor Kelly Yaede, the John O. Wilson Neighborhood Service Center and the Hamilton firefighters, has rallied the community to provide clothing and financial support to help the sisters who have lost their mother and all their material possessions in the tragedy.
“They are there supporting each other but it is an overwhelming experience to have the tragedy of losing your home and your mother the same day and now having to live life with no home, no mother, and their father died when they were very young,” Woods says.
The day after the tragedy, 10 minutes after his arrival at his church, Woods heard a knock on his door. It was Yaede. The two had worked together previously, and she asked for his assistance in developing a plan to help these two girls who now had nothing. By 2:25 p.m., the mayor, along with Saint Phillips and the Wilson Center, sent out a press release announcing a two-week collection drive for shoes, clothes/outfits, undergarments, and gift card donations, with drop-off stations at Wilson during the day and St. Phillips evenings and weekends.
When the firefighters, who were separately raising raised funds and collecting clothing for the sisters, realized that Woods was also leading an effort, they coordinated with him and brought their items over to the church.
Woods tried that day to reach out to the sisters, but had difficulty connecting.
“You can imagine that they were overwhelmed, and I’m sure some of the calls coming into them were not welcome at the time,” Woods says.
But soon after, when he was visiting the site of the collapse on Broad Street, a reporter said to him, “You know, that is the oldest girl standing over there.” Woods went over to greet her and offer his support.
‘Especially in a time when things seem to be so negative, it is good to know there are positive people.’
She gave him permission to visit her younger sister in the hospital and to pray with her, and he also met their grandmother and other family members and told them to let him know if they needed anything. When they came to pick up clothing and gift cards, they told him they had met with the funeral home to begin planning the service.
When Woods learned soon after that Tika Justice was in a temporary job, with no insurance, he realized they had no money to pay for the funeral.
“At that time we had 78 large bags of clothing, and made the decision to switch our efforts from clothes to helping the family pay for the funeral,” Woods says. And he told the family, “You don’t need to be stressed over how you can pay for the funeral—I’m going to help.”
Woods ascertained the pricing from the funeral home and set a goal of $10,000 to help with all the expenses. He invited Yaede to join him in a press conference on July 30, where they announced a special GoFundMe, managed by Saint Phillips Baptist Church for the funeral expenses, at gofundme.com/wwj62n-tika-justice-funeral-fund.
By the end of day on Wednesday, August 1, the campaign had generated $15,442.84, and, a week later, the number was at $18,000. After the funeral expenses are paid, the remaining balance will help with any medical bills, housing needs, college aid, and further support needed for the family.
Saint Phillips opened its doors for the funeral, at no expense to the family, and Woods led the service. He spoke about the biblical Nehemiah, who returned from Babylonian captivity to the place he considered home, Jerusalem, and found the city in rubble. Despite the devastation around him, Nehemiah went on a campaign to rebuild the city. Applying this story to the sisters, he says, “The girls have to spend the rest of their lives rebuilding from this moment when rubbish became part of their lives.” And his message to them is, “Don’t allow this incident to be the end—you can rise up.”
Hamilton High West hosted the repast for the family after the funeral, and members of St. Phillips served the food.
Although only two young people at his church knew the sisters, the efforts of Woods and his congregation on the sisters’ behalf is “what we believe the church should be doing,” Woods says.
Right now, Woods is trying to find permanent housing for the girls, who are now staying with family and friends of the family. The 20-year-old sister, he says, “is of age to have a place, and she is now sister and mother.”
As they reach out to agencies to help meet the sisters’ housing needs and assess what is the best way to support them, Woods says, “We want to set them up for success. They are both at very tender ages, and I’m staying in contact with them and offering them the emotional, spiritual, and financial support they need as they attempt to move past this devastating tragedy.”
The 20-year-old is enrolled at William Patterson University.
“She is making preparations to continue her education, and we’re working on that to see how that will look,” Woods says.
Woods has challenged his community to continue to help the sisters over the long haul. “You need both God and community,” Woods says. “None of us can rebuild by ourselves. God puts people in their lives: I believe God had Mayor Yaede knock on the my door. The Lord laid upon my heart to respond, and we’ve been engaged ever since.”
The generous outreach from the community has meant a lot to the sisters.
“The firefighters, who were the first responders, have reached out beyond their call of duty to assist,” Woods says. “And a church, a community you never knew a couple days prior is reaching out to help—black and white.”
“The oldest talks about how that has brought hope and encouragement to her and her family—that strangers have responded in such a helpful way,” Woods says. “Especially in a time when things in our nation seem to be so negative, it is good to know there are positive people, and in this sense a positive community, that came together to respond to a family that were just strangers a couple of weeks ago.”
Tika Justice, center, in an undated photo with her daughters, now 16 and 20. Justice died July 23 when the house she rented on South Broad Street collapsed with her and her younger daughter inside. Officials have not released the names of Justice’s daughters, citing privacy.,
