"A Loss Less Public...But No Less Tragic........."

Good Morning;

So...This evening (Friday) at 5:00 pm. begins the ceremony for the 
"National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day"
to remember those who died homeless in the past year.

Below is a link to:
Health Care For The Homeless

This is the press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Baltimore Community to remember 104 People for National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day

BALTIMORE – On Friday, December 21, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will join local service providers, public officials, faith communities, and people experiencing homelessness to commemorate National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day.  The public is invited to a memorial service honoring 104 people known to have experienced homelessness who died in 2012.  The remembrance will be held at the Baltimore Inner Harbor Amphitheater (between the two pavilions near the corner of Pratt and Calvert Streets).  A time of quiet reflection – featuring the music of local artist Claire Anthony and the lighting of candles – will begin at 5:00PM. A former service will follow at 5:30, during which local activist Jeff Singer will lead community members in a reading of names.

The commemoration is observed nationally on the first day of winter and the longest night of the year.  Local activities are organized by SHARP, a coalition of homeless service providers and individuals united to “Stop Homelessness And Reduce Poverty.”  Reverend Heber Brown, Reverend Dennis Dorsch, and Reverend CD Witherspoon will lead the service. 

Baltimore City Council President Bernard “Jack” Young introduced a resolution recognizing December 21 as Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day in Baltimore City, which passed unanimously at the Council’s final meeting of the year.  “On December 21, Baltimore City will join communities across the country to bring attention to the struggle of people experiencing homelessness, to mourn the passing of our neighbors who, in life lacked stable housing, and to rededicate ourselves to ending the conditions that create homelessness,” said the Council President.

“As the temperatures drop, we’re reminded of the grave consequences of life on the street,” said Reverend Dennis Dorsch, a member of SHARP and organizer of the memorial.  “Unfortunately, more and more of our friends and neighbors are finding themselves without stable housing.”

“Many of these deaths are entirely preventable,” said Kevin Lindamood, President & CEO of Health Care for the Homeless, Inc., who will join others to discuss the significance of the Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day on Thursday from 5:00PM to 6:00PM on WEAA’s Marc Steiner Show.  “The best way to honor those who died is to redouble our work to prevent and end homelessness.”

For more than two decades communities across the country have come together on December 21 to commemorate those who have died without stable housing.  In 2011, nearly 150 communities held events to draw attention to the tragedy of homelessness.

                           Health Care for the Homeless is building a future without homelessness. Support our work at 

www.hchmd.org

I'll be there to show my support and to remember some of those who are gone.
Because so many of us on the streets are either frequently forced to move from place to place, it is so easy to lose track of people. Whether it is someone you know or someone you just happen to see in a certain place at a certain time regularly, when they are gone for more than a few days, your first thoughts of where they may be tend to have negative leanings.....
Morgue, Hospital, Jail.
With possibly a different order depending on how well you know them and their health or habits.

Sadly... "Wonder if they got a place to live?" ... is usually last, by experience.

It would be so easy to forget these folks who died mostly alone in the shadows, compared to the glare of the media focus on the tragedy of the deaths of the innocents in Newtown. They all deserve to be mourned and remembered.

Anyway, maybe I'll see you there?
(Look for the pudgy grey haired guy in the bright red heavyweight University of Maryland hooded sweatshirt, under a dark gray lighterweight zipper hoodie)
Later.............Dave