2016 Iowa Homeless Memorial

At 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 21, candles lit the night sky. Voices sang. Eyes softly wept. It was the first day of winter and the longest night of the year. Approximately 300 concerned citizens stood out in the cold to pay tribute to those who have died homeless and to rally against homeless evictions and for solutions that prevent future homeless deaths.

In a society where dying homeless often means dying alone—sometimes with bodies unclaimed—Joppa works with homeless shelters and other service organizations each year to ensure dying alone does not mean dying forgotten.

The vigil began with proclamations from Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie declaring it “National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day” in the State of Iowa and City of Des Moines and pledging to work to end the root cause of homelessness. The event then continued with music, poetry and prayer.

Because there’s no formal registry of homeless deaths in Iowa, Joppa compiles a list each year to remember and honor the deceased at the Iowa Homeless Memorial & Rally. This year, known ages ranged from 82 years to 6 months old. Unfortunately we don’t know Marco’s last name.

34 friends we’ve lost this year:

• Tajuana Banks, 36
• Jack “Jackie” Beaman, 57
• Reed Benenate, 19
• David Blackford
• Charlie Brown, 65
• Jeff Carrillo, 33
• Herb Chandler, 48
• Herbert “Herb” Clark, 37
• Kim Clark, 54
• Leonard “Pops” Dawson, 60
• Dora Jennie Doty, 50
• William “Bill” Gamerdinger, 57
• Mark “Steven” Hagen, 61
• Tony Halloway, 54
• Stephanie Halterman, 34
• Paul Hill, 53
• Shelly Hoyt, 62
• Dennis Hutchinson, 59
• Charles Lanam, 82
• Greg McFarland, 51
• Alethia Miller, 46
• Jeff Morrison, 58
• Sam Naomi, 56
• Terry Niederklopfer, 56
• Tara Norton, 27
• Jame “Tuffy” Patton, 41
• Dennis Reimer
• Linda Risinger, 63
• Brandon Shiels
• Thomas “Tommy” Tucker, 56
• Tyreese Washington, 6 months
• William “Bill” Whitehead, 50
• Tommy Williams, 56
• Marco

We recognize others have died unnoticed. We encourage the community to keep us abreast of others who’ve died to ensure every single person is remembered.