Long Beach’s annual memorial service to remember those who died homeless in the city will be held Thurs., Dec. 21, at Forest Lawn in North Long Beach.
Organized by the Long Beach Homeless Coalition, the service will include remarks from formerly unhoused people and those on the front lines of serving the homeless community, said Andrea Friedenthal, the coalition’s vice president of programs.
The names of the deceased will be read and candles lit in their honor, and anyone who attends is welcome to share remembrances of them. The Grace First Presbyterian Church choir will provide music.
As the city’s homelessness crisis has worsened, the number of people dying unhoused in the city has increased. At the 2017 memorial service, 32 names were read, and in 2019 there were 57 names. Last year the total reached 94 names, and Friedenthal said she expects a few more than that at this year’s event. Those numbers may not be complete. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office counted a higher number of homeless deaths in some of those years.
It’s important to hold a ceremony because many of those being honored died with no one to note their passing or even to claim their remains, Friedenthal said.
“We put on the homeless memorial so we can memorialize them and acknowledge them as human beings, because no one else is going to do that.”
The Long Beach Homeless Memorial is at 6 p.m. Thursday at Forest Lawn, 1500 E. San Antonio Dr., Long Beach. Find more information or register to attend the event here.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct the name of the church providing the choir.