Memorial Services For The Homeless
Every year, near the longest night of the year, communities around the country hold memorial services for the those who have died homeless.
Rev. Becky Hamann, Manager of Spiritual Services, at SAMMinistries in San Antonio Texas, is an e-mail friend of City House’s. She and her colleagues have organized one for December 21. Their call to remember is poignant.
SAMMinistries Memorial Service
Then there was this story in the November 12, 2006 edition of the New York Times.
“THE trouble began on the subway.
“At first he was just another homeless man taking refuge from the bitter New York winter. Then he collapsed. He was unconscious when paramedics pulled him out of the subway car. He died a few hours later at Brooklyn Hospital Center in Downtown Brooklyn of an inflamed pancreas and a weakened heart. It was two days before Christmas 2003. He was 48.”
“In life he was a stocky man with gentle eyes, a short beard and a wide smile. His name was Lewis Haggins Jr., though everyone called him Lou. As it turned out, he had a large circle of friends in the homeless community, along with family in New Jersey. But like many who teeter on the city’s edge, this man carried no ID. For weeks, his body lay unclaimed in the city morgue….”
THE UNCLAIMED Rikers Island inmates burying babies’ caskets at Potter’s Field on Hart Island.
The story goes on to describe the indignities that the homeless face all of their lives, none more so than upon their death. It was particulary true in this instance, where forces and circumstances made it almost impossible to memorialize this man in death.
Consider finding such a service in your community and participating.
