The 61 homeless people who died on the
streets in San Diego last year were remembered Sunday afternoon with a memorial
walk, a candlelight vigil, and shoes.
There were tennis shoes and dress shoes. Black shoes and white shoes. Old shoes and new shoes. Each pair had a tag with a name of one of the deceased — Susan, Emilio, Daniel, Blanca — and the place of death. In a doorway. On a sidewalk. In a restroom.
On a beautiful November day that almost seemed to mock the idea that people die on the streets here, the shoes were a symbolic jolt of reality, a reminder that this is a place where an estimated 5,000 people are without shelter every night. Cold weather isn’t the only killer.
“People think homelessness is not that bad in San Diego,” said Herb Johnson, president and CEO of the Rescue Mission, which organized Sunday’s 11th annual remembrance. “They don’t understand the shape of the problem here.”
About 100 people participated in the walk and vigil, which started at the Rescue Mission on Elm Street in Bankers Hill.
They stopped at First Presbyterian Church a couple of blocks away, where they heard Chris Barbara, who helps run a feeding program there, urge them to “do everything we can to make sure no one else has to die on the streets of San Diego.”
Pastor Wilbert Miller had a similar message at the next stop, First Lutheran Church. “It’s important to remember” the dead, he said. “It’s also important that our memory becomes a summons to act now.”
As the group walked along the sidewalks, they sometimes passed homeless people seated on the steps of buildings or pushing shopping carts. The marchers were quiet. “This is not a parade,” Johnson told them before they left. “This is not a party.”
Most of the shoes were carried by formerly homeless people now being cared for by the Rescue Mission. Johnson said the shoes would get heavier, figuratively if not literally, as the walk progressed.
“A lot of them, they recognize that these could have been their shoes,” Johnson said. “It’s very moving to them. It can be the inspiration for them to stay in the program.”
After a third stop at the Monarch School, which educates K-12 children impacted by homelessness, the procession went to the County Administration Building for an outdoor memorial service. The shoes were placed on steps there, next to candles. Above the doorway, etched in the building, is this: “The Noblest Motive is the Public Good.”
A half-dozen religious leaders from a variety of faiths made brief remarks. Pastor Tom Theriault from Solana Beach Presbyterian Church pointed out that “many of God’s favorite people were homeless.” He mentioned several — Moses, Ruth, Jesus — and said they’d all been helped “by the kindness of strangers.”
One by one, the names of the dead were read, from Dale Bailey to Ronald Zenner. A bell was rung after each name. The group sang “Amazing Grace.”
The 61 deaths occurred in the 12 months from Oct. 1, 2011 to Sept.We provide top quality cheapwatchesand IWC Replica Watches. 30 of this year, according to figures provided to the Rescue Mission by the county medical examiner. The previous year also saw 61 homeless deaths.A tagheuerreplicafederal appeals court on Thursday upheld the conviction of Karen Sypher,
For the 11 years the Rescue Mission has been holding its annual remembrance, the numbers have never dipped below 50 deaths.Top Swiss Replicas and the most popular brands of authentics. The highest was the 2002-03 year, when 108 died. The total for all 11 years: 745.
Johnson said some of last year’s victims died from illness or violence.we have a ability to offer different colors and aaabrandshirts sports shoes, One was a 7-month-old boy. They died alone, he said, and they died unremembered.
There were tennis shoes and dress shoes. Black shoes and white shoes. Old shoes and new shoes. Each pair had a tag with a name of one of the deceased — Susan, Emilio, Daniel, Blanca — and the place of death. In a doorway. On a sidewalk. In a restroom.
On a beautiful November day that almost seemed to mock the idea that people die on the streets here, the shoes were a symbolic jolt of reality, a reminder that this is a place where an estimated 5,000 people are without shelter every night. Cold weather isn’t the only killer.
“People think homelessness is not that bad in San Diego,” said Herb Johnson, president and CEO of the Rescue Mission, which organized Sunday’s 11th annual remembrance. “They don’t understand the shape of the problem here.”
About 100 people participated in the walk and vigil, which started at the Rescue Mission on Elm Street in Bankers Hill.
They stopped at First Presbyterian Church a couple of blocks away, where they heard Chris Barbara, who helps run a feeding program there, urge them to “do everything we can to make sure no one else has to die on the streets of San Diego.”
Pastor Wilbert Miller had a similar message at the next stop, First Lutheran Church. “It’s important to remember” the dead, he said. “It’s also important that our memory becomes a summons to act now.”
As the group walked along the sidewalks, they sometimes passed homeless people seated on the steps of buildings or pushing shopping carts. The marchers were quiet. “This is not a parade,” Johnson told them before they left. “This is not a party.”
Most of the shoes were carried by formerly homeless people now being cared for by the Rescue Mission. Johnson said the shoes would get heavier, figuratively if not literally, as the walk progressed.
“A lot of them, they recognize that these could have been their shoes,” Johnson said. “It’s very moving to them. It can be the inspiration for them to stay in the program.”
After a third stop at the Monarch School, which educates K-12 children impacted by homelessness, the procession went to the County Administration Building for an outdoor memorial service. The shoes were placed on steps there, next to candles. Above the doorway, etched in the building, is this: “The Noblest Motive is the Public Good.”
A half-dozen religious leaders from a variety of faiths made brief remarks. Pastor Tom Theriault from Solana Beach Presbyterian Church pointed out that “many of God’s favorite people were homeless.” He mentioned several — Moses, Ruth, Jesus — and said they’d all been helped “by the kindness of strangers.”
One by one, the names of the dead were read, from Dale Bailey to Ronald Zenner. A bell was rung after each name. The group sang “Amazing Grace.”
The 61 deaths occurred in the 12 months from Oct. 1, 2011 to Sept.We provide top quality cheapwatchesand IWC Replica Watches. 30 of this year, according to figures provided to the Rescue Mission by the county medical examiner. The previous year also saw 61 homeless deaths.A tagheuerreplicafederal appeals court on Thursday upheld the conviction of Karen Sypher,
For the 11 years the Rescue Mission has been holding its annual remembrance, the numbers have never dipped below 50 deaths.Top Swiss Replicas and the most popular brands of authentics. The highest was the 2002-03 year, when 108 died. The total for all 11 years: 745.
Johnson said some of last year’s victims died from illness or violence.we have a ability to offer different colors and aaabrandshirts sports shoes, One was a 7-month-old boy. They died alone, he said, and they died unremembered.
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