PORTLAND — An annual vigil to remember those from the Greater Portland homeless community who have died in the past year is available virtually this year at preblestreet.org/vigil.
For more than 25 years Portland’s Annual Homeless Persons’ Memorial Vigil has taken place at the winter solstice, the longest night of homelessness all year.
This year 64 homeless individuals, ranging in age from 22 to 80, died, including two who froze to death while sleeping outside and eight U.S. veterans. The death tally is the most in the last dozen years and 21 more than in 2019.
“The health implications of people experiencing chronic and or unsheltered homelessness are devastating,” said Mark Swann, executive director of Preble Street. Eighty-four percent of people who are homeless and unsheltered experience physical health conditions. Worse, the life expectancy of our friends who endure chronic homelessness is 28 years shorter, on average, than that of people who are housed. We lost 64 people this year. As a community, we cannot continue to let our most vulnerable neighbors slip through the cracks.”
The vigil includes a reading of the names of those who died, a reflection from Grace Street Ministries and music from people experiencing homelessness.
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