15th Annual Greater Green Bay Homeless Persons' Interfaith Memorial Service

Name: 15th Annual Greater Green Bay Homeless Persons' Interfaith Memorial Service
Start: 2024-12-19T19:00:00-06:00
End: 2024-12-19T21:00:00-06:00
Location: St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church

Schedule

Thu Dec 19 2024 at 07:00 pm to 09:00 pm

UTC-06:00

Location

St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church | Green Bay, WI

Honoring dignity with a memorial service to commemorate Greater Green Bay community members who have died while unstably housed in 2024.
St. John’s Ministries and St. John the Evangelist Church will host the 15th Annual Greater Green Bay Homeless Persons’ Interfaith Memorial Service on Thursday, December 19. The memorial is free and open to the public.
The ceremony begins at 7pm at St. John the Evangelist Church (427 St. John St., Green Bay), preceded by a peace walk at 6:30pm at St. John’s Park led by Open Heart Mindfulness Community.
During the memorial, volunteers, service providers and loved ones will carry candles in honor of those who have passed. These moments will be intertwined with the reading of the names of those lost in Green Bay in 2024 as a result of the negative effects of homelessness. For many of the 16+ names mentioned, it will be the only commemoration they receive. For all involved it is a solemn event. However, it is also a call to action.
It is the hope of our organization that this memorial not only provides those in attendance with the opportunity to reflect on the trauma that unstable housing inflicts on people, but also to recommit to advocating for policies that increase access to housing and quality healthcare for homeless community members.
Each year since 1990, on or near the first day of winter and the longest night of the year, the National Coalition for the Homeless has sponsored National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day to bring attention to the tragedy of homelessness and to remember those who have paid the ultimate price for our nation's failure to address the lack of safe, affordable housing in our country. In 2005, the National Health Care for the Homeless Council and the National Consumer Advisory Board joined NCH as co-sponsors of this meaningful event. Over 200 events are held nationwide to memorialize people who have died without housing. Each year we continue to hold this sacred time of remembrance and honor for all who have passed without stable housing and look toward the day when everyone will have a place to call home.