The Lee County Homeless Coalition will observe Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day this Sunday evening with its annual candlelight vigil recognizing those who lost their lives in 2014 while living on the streets or in shelters in Lee County.
This year’s event will mark the deaths of 24 homeless people. That’s up from 16 deaths in 2013. “Many of these individuals took their last breaths without adequate shelter to call their own and often times they were actually alone. Lives just should not end in such a fashion and without any acknowledgement,” said Lee County Homeless Coalition Executive Director Janet Bartos. “So during this time of year when people reflect on the past year, we’re going to take a moment to remember those that society has forgotten. If only, just to speak their names, we recognize the significance of their existence.”
The condition of homelessness is a contributing factor in many of these deaths, according to Bartos. “The death certificate might have read, ‘death by a natural cause’ or ‘suicide’ or ‘murder’ or ‘being struck by a vehicle,’ but we know that for most of them the true cause was homelessness. Each person that we are mourning; they were one of us. They were somebody’s father, they were someone’s mother maybe or sons or daughters.”
The date of the vigil marks Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, which coincides with the first day of winter and the longest night of the year to remind people of the conditions that homeless individuals face.
The Lee County Homeless Coalition is also gearing up for its annual Homeless Service Day and Veterans Stand Down January 31 when its annual homeless census count is taken. Sunday’s vigil takes place at 6:00 p.m. on the steps of the old Lee County Courthouse in downtown Fort Myers.
The Charlotte County Homeless Coalition will hold a similar event that same evening at 6:30 at their headquarters located at 1476 Kenesaw Street in Port Charlotte.
