Press Statement from the National Coalition for the Homeless
Each year since 1990, on or near the first day of winter and the longest night of the year, National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) has sponsored National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day to bring attention to the tragedy of homelessness and to remember our homeless friends who have paid the ultimate price for our nation's failure to end homelessness.
In an effort to maximize the impact of the day, NCH has encouraged local and statewide organizations to hold memorials of their own. Last year, over 100 cities across the nation, from Detroit to Seattle to Washington, DC, sponsored events to honor those who had died and to recommit to the task of ending homelessness.
This Year, once again, NCH is encouraging groups to plan a special event on or around December 21, 2004. Some groups may decide to hold their event a day or so before the date.
2004 Homeless Persons' Memorial Day
On December 21, 2004, the National Coalition for the Homeless will sponsor National Homeless Person’s Memorial Day. On this day, over 100 community groups and service providers from around the country will hold memorial services to remember those who died without homes last year.
Last year, NCH held a memorial service at McPherson Square in downtown Washington, DC. A small crowd of homeless people, advocates, and concerned citizens braved the cold and wind to participate in the candlelight vigil and the reading of the names of homeless people who died in the Washington, DC metro area last year. All echoed the distress that many of us feel as our fellow citizens die on the streets, but emphasized a renewed commitment to end homelessness in the United States, so that we will not have to keep having memorial services.
Unfortunately, we will be having another service this December as several homeless people have already been found dead in Washington, DC since that service. It appears that the immediate cause of death was a combination of hypothermia and intoxication. We still have a long way to go in ending homelessness, especially in our Nation’s Capital. Homelessness truly is a matter of life and death.
For more information, please call Michael Stoops at NCH (202) 737-6444, ext. 19 or email at [email protected].
