National Homeless Persons Memorial Day

[dajoki]

December 21st is the longest and the coldest day of the year. It is the perfect day to honor and mourn those who died homeless, not only in the past year, but all years gone by. But even as we gather to remember and honor those who have died, we must resolve to do whatever it takes to ensure that such memorials do not need to become an annual event. Far too many individuals die on the streets, in cars, in shelters with no family or no loved ones to mourn for them. This will be the only memorial service they receive.

It should also be a time to give thought to those still suffering from homelessness and what can be done about it. This is a time when we should look inward and pledge to do whatever we can to put an end to this complex problem. Its nice to hold candlelight vigils and rallies for an end to homelessness, but it is not nearly enough. The problem is lack of affordable housing. We must call on our reps and senators to do something about this, its an uphill fight but it must be fought, its that important.

Here is a website with links that could give you some ideas, please check it out. http://www.nationalhomeless.org/projects/memorial/index.html And I ask you to try to keep this kicked at least through tomorrow.

[tekisui]

1. knr.

[bobbolink]

2. It is upsetting that I can't find locations and times for local memorials.

I know where the Denver one is held, but can't find the time.

They might get more attendess if this information was available.

Thanks for posting....

[ashling]

3. The coldest day of the year is not the Winter Solstice

just as the hottest day of the year comes generally is not in June. The temperature extremes resulting from our distance from the sum don't settle in for a few months. At least that's the way we learned it in physical geography some years ago. Sort of like preheating an oven.

[dajoki]

5. You're missing the point n/t

[ashling]

10. No

I just made a statement about the coldest day of the year. I get the point.

[AngryOldDem]

9. Here, I'll help:

It's symbolic. First day of a long, cold winter; holiday time, when of course, everyone is happy and has a warm place to go to, so it becomes easy to overlook those who do not; and a time to memorialize those among us who have died from lack of adequate shelter.

If people don't know if their cities have such a memorial, call a shelter or City Hall and ask for the people who address homelessness issues.

[LuckyPhil]

4. Thanks

Thank you so much for this post - and trying to creat some awareness. Know a buddy who lost him home just because he didn't have home insurance when a bad situation got him unexpectedly. There's actually an article about on here - http://www.homeinsurance.org . Thanks!

[dajoki]

7. Welcome to DU LuckyPhil...

and thanks for the link.:hi:

[ceile]

6. k&r

[myrna minx]

8. K&R n/t

[maryf]

11. Thanks Dajoki!

K&R and I'll be kicking again!

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. It's a damn shame there even needs to be a memorial, but it's good

to know there are people who want to show their respect.

And we definitely need to do something about housing.

[Liberal_in_LA]

13. kick

[pitohui]

14. thinking abt this

i used to have a firm policy of not giving $ because i felt it was going to drugs/alcohol but if i give to some organization, it seems like most of the money is going not to the homeless but to those who profit from the existence of the homeless

i've changed my policy, much as i hate taking out cash on the street, i've made a change and just hand out cash on the spot

if they smoke it, so be it, at least they had the option of spending it on a hamburger

i really don't know what to do, when i was homeless, a vigil was of no use to me but nor was a shelter, as a woman i didn't feel safe at the shelters, i had to hustle my own way out of it

fuck it, maybe i'm wrong, but for now i'm just going with actually giving the person the cash and hoping they use it wisely, i hate to enable, but i don't know what else to do

one of my friends also carries health food bars and if someone says they are hungry, he hands those out, can't hurt and so far the response has been positive, they can tell he isn't trying to be a sarcastic ass, he's really trying to at least pass out some food...

[leftstreet]

15. K&R

[niyad]

16. k and r

[Desertrose]

17. K&R