Held annually on the winter solstice and longest night of the year, National Homeless Persons’ Memorial day is an opportunity to remember those we have lost too early due to the violence and effects of homelessness. Communities take part with solemn services and stern advocacy for an end to homelessness.
We are deeply concerned about the recent findings presented in the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR). The report reveals a disturbing 12% overall increase in the number of individuals experiencing homelessness across the nation from 2022 to 2023. This data highlights the pressing need for immediate action to ensure the protection of the human right to housing.
According to AHAR report findings, the number of people experiencing homelessness is the highest since the reporting began in 2007, painting a bleak picture of the current housing crisis. These stark developments are a somber reminder of the inaction and lack of prioritization when it comes to addressing the root causes of homelessness in our country.
We firmly believe that housing is a fundamental human right and cannot overlook the fact that these findings reflect an urgent need for more comprehensive and proactive measures to combat the growing crisis of homelessness in our communities.
As the AHAR report underlines the gravity of the situation, we at NCH urge all stakeholders including government agencies, policymakers, and community leaders to collaborate and redouble their efforts to proactively address homelessness. We call for the immediate allocation of resources and the implementation of long-term solutions that prioritize access to safe and affordable housing for all.
To underscore the need for swift access to housing, communities across the country will commemorate Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day this week (December 21), remembering thousands of neighbors, family members and friends who have passed away prematurely due to lack of permanent and safe housing.
| Today, join the National Coalition for the Homeless, the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, and the National Consumer Advisory Board to remember the lives of those we have lost this year and continue our fight to end homelessness. NHCHC CEO Bobby Watts and NCH Executive Director Donald Whitehead will speak, along with Reverend Dr. Elizabeth Theoharis from the Poor People’s Campaign; Warren Magee, NCAB Steering Committee member and Chair of the Consumer Advisory Board at Boston Health Care for the Homeless; Dr. Catherine Crosland, Director of Homeless Outreach Development at Unity Health Care in Washington, D.C.; and Madalyn Karban, Bhavana Akula, and Ishaan Akula from NCH’s National Youth Division, Bring America Home NOW.The program will also feature art by artist and advocate Tammy De Grouchy Grubbs and an original spoken word performance from Charlotte A. Garner, Regional Representative, NCAB Board Steering Committee, Chair of the Ellen Dailey Advocacy Committee, and Chair of the Healthcare for the Homeless Houston Change Committee. If your community is hosting a memorial, please register your event here. |
| On this day, we come together as a community to mourn and remember those we have lost due to homelessness. It is a solemn occasion that reminds us of the dire consequences posed by the lack of stable, secure housing for our most vulnerable neighbors. Together, let us reaffirm our commitment to upholding the right to housing and work towards a future where homelessness is eradicated, and every individual has a place to call home. |
| Join us for HPMD |
Held annually on the winter solstice and longest night of the year, National Homeless Persons’ Memorial day is an opportunity to remember those we have lost too early due to the violence and effects of homelessness. Communities take part with solemn services and stern advocacy for an end to homelessness.
One Life, Too Many. Another Year, Too Long.
Homeless Persons Memorial Day 2023 National Vigil
Thursday, December 21, 3:00pm-4: 30pm EST
Register: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6s3Zeb8rQHGQ7EECLwVuAw
Many people in communities across the country work each and everyday to support people who are identified as homeless or at risk of homelessness. The work, for the most part is heartfelt, often perceived as never-ending due to among other things, the overwhelming need for safe, secure, low-cost affordable housing. However, another related reality exists. That is, the hundreds of people who die every year, named and unnamed without a place to call home. As we enter the winter and holiday season, and near the end of 2022, this year will be no different and again, we are called to remember, honor, and unit in community for Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, December 21.
This year the national observation will be via Zoom and is framed in partnership by the National Coalition For The Homeless, National Health Care For The Homeless Council, National Consumer Advisory Board, and the National Alliance To End Homelessness (click here for more details or to register). This marks the 32nd year bringing deeper awareness, knowledge, understanding, and advocacy to housing, homelessness, and emerging issues connected to both in the United States. Among people experiencing homelessness, too many continue to die on our streets, in encampments, in the woods, and other uninhabitable places and spaces. We must be able to see an end to this. We cannot continue to accept what is unacceptable.
As we prepare to remember and honor the people that we have lost around the country both nationally and in our local communities, let us push forward in our advocacy and envisioning of the day where we will not have to remember any human being who has died without a place to call home. You are welcome to check our Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day page for events happening across the country. If you are planning an event or would like to plan one in your local community, we offer our organizing manual to support you in your work.
A year-end reflection from Bobby Watts, CEO of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, and Donald Whitehead Jr., Executive Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless
Thirty years ago, the truth that homelessness is not inevitable led to the first Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, held each year on December 21 — the first day of winter and the longest night of the year. The observance of Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, which is now held in more than 100 cities in the U.S. and other nations, began through a partnership of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council and the National Coalition for the Homeless with three objectives: 1) to shine a bright light on the dark truth that homelessness kills; 2) to ensure that those who died are not forgotten; and 3) to mobilize action to end what is often a death sentence — homelessness.
For too many people experiencing homelessness, each commemoration may be their last. Thousands of Americans experiencing homelessness die prematurely and unnecessarily in the world’s richest nation. Communities of color, especially African American and Native American populations, experience homelessness and die at disproportionate rates from this painful and persistent reality. In 2020, Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day was marked by the twin hopes of defeating a worldwide pandemic and achieving a more perfect union in the U.S. with racial justice that is long overdue.
A public policy change from 40 years ago was largely responsible for creating the present-day scale of homelessness — and different public policies can end it. The rise in homelessness coincides with cutting more than three-quarters of the federal funding between 1979 and 1982 that makes housing affordable for poor people. The budget cuts were not a matter of the country not being able to afford the subsidies, but of ideology. We know this because at around the same time, federal subsidies for homeownership — which overwhelmingly go to the wealthy — increased dramatically, to the point where they now are six times greater than rental subsidies for the poor. This shift in priorities proved to be, quite literally, a death sentence for the most vulnerable.
Society measures what society treasures, and that unfortunately does not always include people experiencing homelessness. We do not know the number of people who die without a home because only a few localities conduct a systematic count. Thanks to two cities that do systematically count homeless deaths, we know they have increased substantially. In New York City, homeless deaths grew by more than 50 percent between 2008 and 2018, and in Los Angeles County, homeless deaths doubled between 2014 and 2019. Several organizations have worked together to create a Homeless Mortality Toolkit to encourage and equip more cities and counties to measure the true scope of the problem and to design interventions that work. We should count our neighbors without homes because people without homes count.
Throughout 2020, COVID-19 taught us an indisputable fact: housing is health care. The critical link between housing and health was further underscored when the Centers for Disease Control issued a moratorium on evictions. The moratorium, which had been slated to end on December 31, has been extended until January 31. If the moratorium ends, almost five million households will be at risk of eviction. If that happens, one study estimates these evictions would cause an additional 10,700 excess deaths nationally.
Homeless deaths are not inevitable. The President-Elect is the first in 40 years to propose that funding for affordable housing be available at a level where every qualifying household receives rental subsidies. That means we need to be speaking up. Urge your public officials to end the national shame of homelessness now.
Let the 2020 Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day be our last.
Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) has introduced a House Concurrent Resolution expressing Congress’s support of the goals and ideals of National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. This year marks the 10th anniversary of National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, which is observed on December 21, 2010.
“Winter is a notoriously difficult time of year for homeless people,” said Hastings, who serves as the Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Homelessness. ”Furthermore, the spirit of the holiday season provides an opportunity for promoting compassion and concern for all, especially the homeless.”
On or around the longest night of the year, December 21, the National Coalition for the Homeless and National Health Care for the Homeless Council hold memorial services for homeless individuals who have died from causes related to their homelessness. Throughout the state of Florida, this important day is being recognized, along with over 200 other local municipalities, organizations, and statewide organizations throughout the United States. With the support of the National Coalition for the Homeless, National Consumer Advisory Board, and National Health Care for the Homeless Council; National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day brings attention to the tragedy of homelessness.
“Homelessness, however, is not just a local issue; it is a national problem that beckons national attention,” said Hastings. Hastings’ resolution encourages state and local governments, the President, media, and the general public to support the goals and ideals of National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day as well as reaffirms our country’s commitment to helping those less fortunate members of society and acknowledges the efforts of those who currently are.
“A national memorial day will ensure that we keep the problem in perspective,” further noted Hastings. ”Through all the statistics on homelessness, it’s easy to forget that numbers correspond to actual individuals with lives and families.” We must remember their lives-men, women, and children-and we must remember why they died.”
Joining Hastings as original co-sponsors are (15) Representatives Eddie Bernice Johnson, Judy Biggert, Kathy Castor, Steve Cohen, John Conyers, Jr., Elijah E. Cummings, Geoff Davis, Ted Deutch, Barney Frank, Raúl M. Grijalva, Luis V. Gutiérrez, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Chellie Pingree, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Lynn Woolsey.
Congressman Alcee L. Hastings is Vice Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, a senior member of the House Rules Committee, and Co-Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission.
