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The Longest Night 2017
Requesting Recognition and Remembrance for 207 Homelesss
Lives Lost, One Proclamation at a Time
December 21, 2017
by Tim Houchen
by Tim Houchen
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Anaheim, CA - Each year on December 21st since 2014, I have organized events recognizing National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day here in Orange County, CA.
Having experienced homelessness personally in the past, I am acutely aware of the uncertainties of life and the diminished expectations for survival of those who grow old living on the street over time. I have learned from organizing these memorials that there are just two things that I can count on each and every year just like clockwork. Number one: if the total number of homeless people increase over the course of a years time, so will the number of homeless deaths increase in relation during that same period of time. Number two: I can always expect that at some point during the process of planning or staging the event, I will at some point be overcome by a feeling of what I can only describe as a "spark of inspiration" or a "miracle in the moment." It feels a little like deja vu because for that one moment I feel as if I'm doing the right thing, at the right place and at the right time. This happens every year for me. I look forward to experiencing this spark of inspiration each year, otherwise I'm not sure that I could continue doing these memorials year in and year out. When I experience the spark, It warms and comforts my soul and makes me believe that some day things will be better. Every year is a different story and every story a different spark. Here is what happened in 2017. |
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2017 marked my fourth year in a row as the organizer of our National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day (NHPMD) event. The event is a way of giving our homeless brother's and sister's an opportunity to mourn the loss of friends and loved-ones, but it also serves as a tremendous tool for raising community awareness. So, each year when I begin planning the next event, I try to add something that might capture the attention of a public who otherwise would rather not be caught paying attention to anything resembling homelessness whatsoever.
Generally speaking, a message telegraphing homeless deaths resonates better in visual impressions rather than by sound. If it were true that a picture tells a thousand words, then on Homeless Persons' Memorial Day you better bring pictures because most members of the public don't want to hear about dying homeless people, not even a few words. I have heard of organizers using real coffins to get their message across. In Baltimore, they lay out an empty pair of shoes for each homeless person that passed away in the previous year. It really leaves an impression.
Generally speaking, a message telegraphing homeless deaths resonates better in visual impressions rather than by sound. If it were true that a picture tells a thousand words, then on Homeless Persons' Memorial Day you better bring pictures because most members of the public don't want to hear about dying homeless people, not even a few words. I have heard of organizers using real coffins to get their message across. In Baltimore, they lay out an empty pair of shoes for each homeless person that passed away in the previous year. It really leaves an impression.
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Please view a video of our 2017 event
Baltimore. Empty pairs of shoes represent homeless lives lost that year.
2016. Tombstone cards for each homeless death that year.
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In 2016, My wife and I stayed up late the night prior to the event. We cut tombstone-shaped cards and printed the names of all of the homeless people that died on the cards before clipping all 187 of them to a chain link fence near the event. Many people passing by stopped to ask what the cards stood for. Most were amazed when we told them that each card represented someone that had died homeless that year.
So, in early 2017, there I was looking for a new gimmick. I had heard of organizers in other places requesting official proclamations from their city recognizing Dec. 21st as NHPMD as a symbol of unity and support from members of the community for the homeless people living in and around their city. Early on I had decided that in 2017 I would host events in Santa Ana where I had spent several years homeless and in Anaheim where I had moved into an apartment ending my homelessness. So, I decided to make requests from both cities and make it official. It didn't seem like it would be too difficult, after all, I knew the Mayors and Council Members real well from both cities. The City of Santa Ana was the first city to issue the proclamation to me. And it meant a lot to me since I had spent most of my time homeless there. As a favor to me, the Mayor and City Council gave me the document 6 months earlier than normal, just so I could show it off and maybe persuade another local city or two to also issue similar proclamations. Traditionally, I will request my preview list of homeless dead from the county coroner halfway through the year in June and then the final list a week or two before the event. I don't like checking too often because I feel that it is bad luck. When I checked the list in June, around the same date as the Santa Ana Proclamation, everything seemed about normal. There would be about the same number of homeless deaths this year as in the last according to my own predictions. But then things turned for the worse. Over the next couple of months there was a homeless person dying in our county almost every day and by late August I was already predicting that 2017 would end up being the third record-setting year in a row for homeless deaths and the numbers indicated the chances were high that we would exceed 200 deaths this year for the first time ever. Not good! I went into overdrive. More homeless deaths meant more community awareness to try and slow down the rate of death among our homeless. That's when I decided to make a push for proclamations from cities all across Orange County. It was difficult to estimate how many cities would actually participate. I was doubtful that many of the wealthier cities in the county would participate at all. Still, I started a daily routine beginning in October, of sending emails, following-up with phone calls usually with someone in the clerks dept. I kept |
a record of emails sent and phone calls were documented with times and dates and the names of persons contacted.
In some cases I had a real tough time contacting anyone from some of the cities. Sometimes it seemed as though my requests were purposely beingignored, which makes sense because as it often happens, the general public likes to look the other way rather than confront homelessness head-on.
Soon the responses to my requests began to trickle in slowly. Some cities even requested a list of other cities that had issued official proclamations for NHPMD. I was really surprised when some of the wealthier cities began sending me their proclamations. By Thanksgiving I had 11 proclamations sitting on my desk and a couple more were on there way according to staff I spoke with from several cities.
That week I started showing up at City Council meetings in cities that I had not previously visited. I attended Mayor's Breakfasts and any other place where I could track down personally a Mayor or Councilperson.
By December 3rd I had 13 procs, but I knew that the time was getting short. I wanted so badly to get at least half of all the cities in Orange County to issue proclamations, so 17 cities out of 34 total and I was still too short.
As it turned out, I received four proclamations in those last couple of days bringing the total to 18. More than half of all of the cities in Orange County were officially recognizing Dec. 21, 2017 as National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day!
In some cases I had a real tough time contacting anyone from some of the cities. Sometimes it seemed as though my requests were purposely beingignored, which makes sense because as it often happens, the general public likes to look the other way rather than confront homelessness head-on.
Soon the responses to my requests began to trickle in slowly. Some cities even requested a list of other cities that had issued official proclamations for NHPMD. I was really surprised when some of the wealthier cities began sending me their proclamations. By Thanksgiving I had 11 proclamations sitting on my desk and a couple more were on there way according to staff I spoke with from several cities.
That week I started showing up at City Council meetings in cities that I had not previously visited. I attended Mayor's Breakfasts and any other place where I could track down personally a Mayor or Councilperson.
By December 3rd I had 13 procs, but I knew that the time was getting short. I wanted so badly to get at least half of all the cities in Orange County to issue proclamations, so 17 cities out of 34 total and I was still too short.
As it turned out, I received four proclamations in those last couple of days bringing the total to 18. More than half of all of the cities in Orange County were officially recognizing Dec. 21, 2017 as National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day!
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On Dec. 21, 2017 we proudly placed proclamations from 18 cities on display at our Homeless Persons' Memorial Day event at the Santa Ana Civic Center along with our brand new temporary memorial wall constructed with wood, but decorated by artists to appear as very authentic granite steps and 4 faux marble panels were labeled with the names of 207 homeless persons that had lost their lives that previous year. It was beautiful.
Senators John Moorlach and Josh Newman both spoke eloquently and a rock band, "Kelly Bowilin and the Orphan's" played a musical set. After finishing the event at the Civic Center, we packed up the proclamations display and memorial wall and transported them to the Anaheim Cemetery for our traditional "Longest Night" program. Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva was our keynote speaker at the event and she was followed by a beautiful inter-faith memorial service and a candlelight vigil was held where the names were read directly from the memorial wall. A rock band finished the celebration with a musical tribute. Oh. I nearly forgot to mention one last surprise, that spark of inspiration that I spoke of before. I was really inspired when I surpassed my goal while receiving the 18th proclamation. I didn't think that I could ever possibly have accomplished that task, but what seemed like a fantasy became a reality. I now have a much greater sense of hope that our communities in Orange County can work together in order to provide solutions that could save homeless lives in the coming year and begin restoring our communities that have been deeply impacted by homelessness as well. What seemed impossible, now seems quite possible. During the ceremony at the Civic Center that day, I was presented with a beautiful framed resolution from the State of California in recognition of National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day on Dec. 21, 2017. The resolution also recognized my work as the organizer of these events and praised my efforts of uniting our communities for the purpose of ending homelessness. It was definitely one of those moments where I felt as if I was in the right place, at the right time and doing the right thing for our homeless brother's and sister's with homes and those without homes. It was a great day! Please consider joining us again next year and every year thereafter until not one single life is ever lost again to homelessness in our county. Hope 4 Restoration
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Proclamations on display at Dec. 21st NHPMD event.
This resolution from the State of California was presented to me in recognition of National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day on Dec. 21, 2017.
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News Articles:
Nov. 30, 2017 "Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day will commemorate those who’ve died" | L.A. Times/Daily Pilot
Dec. 19, 2017 "210 homeless people who died in Orange County the past year will be remembered... Here are their names" | OC Register
Dec. 21, 2017 "Homeless people who died the past year are not forgotten" | Orange County Register
Dec. 21, 2017 "Cities Across The U.S. Honor Homeless Persons' Memorial Day" | NPR NEWS
Dec. 23, 2017 "The Longest Night" Combines Art and the Issue of Homelessness" | OC Weekly
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