IDignity (Website) and Homeless Services Network of Central Florida (Website) will once again host their annual recognition of homeless persons who passed away during the year at 10 a.m. Wednesday, December 14 at Heritage Square Park in front of the Orange County Regional History Center.
The Annual Homeless Person’s Memorial Service is a public event in that names of homeless persons who died in 2022 will be read aloud, a bell will ring and a dove will be placed on a memorial tree to pay tribute.
This service is held near the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, in recognition of the difficulties that nighttime causes for those who have no home. For many of those recognized, this service is the only memorial of their passing.
“People who live on the streets of our city experience a profound disconnection from the social structures that most of us take for granted: family members, neighbors, co-workers, and friends,” said Joel Miller, an Outreach Specialist for the Hope Team (Website). “Remembering their lives and faces during memorials gives us the opportunity to admire their tenacity to survive, their contentment with so little, and their courage to persevere during the great trial that is living unsheltered. For those of us who live on, our renewed resolve to keep others from dying on the streets must increase.”
IDignity provides assistance to locals who need help getting documents for identification purposes. The event is open to the public.
