Springfield Mayor Charles Ryan’s office announced today a candlelight vigil planned for this coming Friday, December 21, at Court Square near City Hall, to remember 38 local homeless people who have died during the past year. The event is part of National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day.

The vigil will take place at 4:00 pm, called the Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service. Ryan’s office said that it will be an opportunity for health and service providers, people experiencing homelessness, volunteers, advocates, members of the faith community, and government officials to honor the people who lived on the streets and in the shelters of the Pioneer Valley, and who died in the last year from various diseases, injuries, and suicide.

The service is organized by Doreen Fadus of Health Care for the Homeless and Reverend Greg Dyson on behalf of the Homes Within Reach (PDF) committee.

“At this time of year, it is easy to focus only on the needs of ourselves and not on others,” Reverend Dyson said in a release. “This event gives us an opportunity to express love and concern for some of the less fortunate in our community.”

The mayor’s office reminds us that homelessness dramatically elevates one’s risk of illness, injury and death. For every age group, homeless persons are three times more likely to die than the general population. Among local homeless people who died this past year, the average age of death was 48.

“Most of these people are dying of treatable diseases these deaths are preventable,” said Fadus in the city’s release. “As a nation, we must commit to accessible health care and we must recognize the importance of housing as part of the treatment for many chronic health problems.”

Springfield’s Homes Within Reach plan embraces the “housing first” concept. The Homes Within Reach committee members point to the need to broaden support for this approach, and the need for increased federal and state funding to carry it out.

National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, which has been on or near the winter solstice for the past 16 years, is co-sponsored by the National Health Care for the Homeless Council and the National Coalition for the Homeless. The event is held at this time to “bring attention to the tragedy of homelessness and highlight the importance of strategies to end homelessness.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 at 9:53 am and is filed under City corridors, Community building, Demographics, Events, Homelessness, Housing, Public safety, Public spaces, Quality of life, Springfield, Urban Compass.