Linda, Kenneth, Sharon, Victoria, Boyd, Wayne, Johnny, Vernon and "unknown"

December 21st is National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. Locally, AmeriCorps Partnership to End Homelessness sponsored the Greensboro Homeless Memorial Walk from the Interactive Resource Center on East Washington Street to Grace Community Church on West Lee Street, where a Memorial Service was held at 6:15pm.

On the stage were a row of empty chairs with the names of those who died homeless in Greensboro in 2011 — Linda, Kenneth, Sharon, Victoria, Boyd, Wayne, Johnny, Vernon — along with a chair marked “unknown”, representing others we may not have known about. The empty chairs represent the dinner guests who are no longer with us there at the Wednesday night meal, but who we remember and honor at this yearly service.

Mayor Perkins, accompanied by Councilwoman Abuzuaiter, reads the proclamation.

Mayor Robbie Perkins, accompanied on the podium at Grace by City Council Member Marikay Abuzuaiter, read a proclamation declaring the day Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day in Greensboro. Both Mayor Perkins and Mrs. Abuzuaiter participated in the earlier Memorial Walk, as well. The service included music; the story, in poetry, of formerly-homeless outreach worker Melissa Gayle; and a message by Grace’s Shepherding Pastor Will Dungee. Following the memorial service, Grace’s weekly Community Fellowship Dinner was served to 200+ homeless and hungry guests.

image credit: Matt from London on Flickr

Each year since 1990, on December 21st, which is on or near the first day of winter and the longest night of the year, the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) has sponsored National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. This is a time to remember our homeless friends who have died while experiencing homelessness and an opportunity to bring attention to the ongoing reality and tragedy of homelessness in our nation.

Communities across the nation hold events to commemorate National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. Here are some events in Greensboro on Wednesday, December 21st that you can be involved in:

NHPMD 2009

Flying Signs:

Update: Sign flying is canceled.   This takes a lot of planning, and the forecast still says rain, so we’ve decided to go ahead and call this one off and focus on the later activities instead. Weather permitting*, members of the StreetWatch homeless outreach team and friends will hold informational signs at major intersections in Greensboro during the morning and afternoon on December 21. If you’d like to join us, please contact me here.

Memorial Walk

• Begins at 4:45pm at the Interactive Resource Center at 407 E. Washington St. and continues on to S. Elm St. and then to W. Lee St.
• Ends at Grace Community Church at 643 W. Lee St.

View Route for Homeless Memorial Walk in a larger map

Memorial Service

The memorial service will be held at Grace Community Church, 643 W. Lee St., at 6:15pm. Grace’s weekly Wednesday Community Fellowship Dinner for the homeless and hungry will follow the service.

Charlie, Dominic, Frosty, Jodi, Michelle

“For every hour and every moment thousands of men leave life on this earth, and their souls appear before God. And how many of them depart in solitude, unknown, sad, dejected, that no one mourns for them or even knows whether they have lived or not.”

Dostoevsky

National Homeless Persons Memorial Day is Friday, December 21st. A local observance will be held on the 19th. Details here. A list of national observances is available here.