2017 Iowa Homeless Memorial

Over two hundred people, including many currently experiencing homelessness, gathered on a 35-degree night on the west terrace of the Iowa State Capitol to remember 24 people we know who died homeless in Iowa last year. From the stage, local and state officials proclaimed it a night to remember those who died, and the curse of homelessness that contributed to their deaths. Homeless advocates eulogized those whose deaths went largely unnoticed.

In the back of the crowd where homeless couples huddled together under thin blankets, Don, a man who had been tenting for more than three years, was remembering the brutal 2014 winter.

“It was 22-below with a 60-below wind chill,” he recalls.

Nearby, April Dudley soberly listens. Her small dog, Heaven, peaks out of the front of her coat. She’s been homeless since her divorce last June. She’ll time out of the shelter where she’s staying in early January, the cruelest part of Iowa’s winter. Sarah Derry shivers beside her. Her time in the shelter will be up four days after Christmas.

“Then I’ll be out on the street,” she says, looking away, “and, well…” Sarah gives a resigned shrug, the universal gesture of people who are about to be set adrift on the sea of circumstance. “Where’s Des Moines’ heart?” another man challenges.

The City of Des Moines needs to focus on solutions, like safe places for its homeless citizens to go when they time out of shelters. They also need to adopt the latest residential building codes so developers can build rental units that people with part-time jobs can truly afford.

We will remember…

• Anthony Allen
• Jack Beverlin, 51
• Bradley Butcher, 52
• Michael Clarkin, 56
• Mickey Dobson
• Cesar Dubois*
• Debra Fletcher, 48
• Aubrey Gillard, 42
• Herb Gish
• David Kolbe, 64
• Christopher Landers*
• William Lester
• Jim Loveland*
• Tom Matzie, 63
• Amanda Mudgett
• Glenn O’Shea, 56
• Ivan Powers, 62
• Donald Roberts
• Loring Michael Svoboda, 62
• Rosetta Wilhemina Toole*, 57
• Douglas Tucker
• Jack Wagg, 56
• Ronnie Weaver, 55
• Richard Yeater, 77

*Individuals had recently acquired housing.