Hundreds Gather to Honor a Community of Friends and Loved Ones

Just after 5:00 p.m. on December 15, 2005, a group of about 225 people began a silent two-mile procession from the Hennepin County Government Center to Simpson Church and shelter on 28th and Nicollet to remember the 84 people who died while homeless in 2005.

Mourners chose the route because it is similar to the same route that hundreds of individuals must travel every night when they are turned away from shelter and must walk to reach secure waiting or the overflow.

Marchers arrived at Simpson at 6:30 p.m. There, they joined about 400 others to honor and remember those who passed with a memorial service.

Sheila Stackhouse, shelter director for Simpson Housing Services, began the service. She reminded us that the 364 other days of the year, many ignore and ostracize people who experience homelessness, and she called on us all to live the cause daily.

Nick Coleman, a member of the Star Tribune’s editorial staff, delivered this year’s eulogy. At one point during his address, he challenged us to ask those in positions of power why it is that some people who disappear get noticed by the media and society while others are allowed to disappear unnoticed.

“Why do we all know about the tragedy of Natalie Holloway and her disappearance, but it took the newspaper over a week to begin questioning why a young girl was allowed to drop out of school, disappear and die of a drug overdose without anyone asking why?” asked Coleman.

Following Coleman’s eulogy, about a dozen members of the audience rose to personally remember one or more persons being honored at the service.

A woman from Peace House talked about the joy that one of her regulars brought her every time she’d see him. “He’d smile at you and make you feel special. It was a gift of his. He made everyone he talked to feel valued and special. We will miss him.”

You can find a list of the Minnesotans who died during 2005 while homeless on the 2005 Memorial Service page. We will remember them and honor them with a commitment to do better in the future.