Nurse, Mother, Fighter and Migrant Fields to Master Gardener: The Many Lives of Juanita Savoy‑Nash

At 6 years old, Juanita Savoy‑Nash was sleeping under a pickup truck, working fields for food, and going to school in clothes that smelled like the mattress she shared with her sisters. At 85, in the middle of chemotherapy and recently moved out of her camper van into her own apartment, she’s still finding ways to show up for her neighbors at Church at the Park—with rides, laundry, peanut butter sandwiches, and an open seat at the table.In our newest episode of The Humanity of Homelessness, John Marshall sits with Juanita to trace her journey through childhood homelessness, migrant labor, nursing, sex‑offender treatment work, early retirement, and eventually the grassroots community that became Church at the Park. She talks candidly about suicide attempts, the helplessness of poverty, the “magic in the air” when unhoused neighbors began serving one another in Cascade Gateway Park, and how passing out sandwiches and planting corn in a raised bed garden nurtured her as much as anyone she served.If you’ve ever wondered what actually changes when we move from “helping the homeless” to belonging with our neighbors who are living outside, this conversation is for you. Listen to Juanita’s story and join us in resisting the stories of fear and exclusion with a different one: I am beloved, and so is my neighbor.