MISSOULA — A crowd gathered Thursday night at the Missoula County Courthouse — one of hundreds across the country — to mark Homeless Persons Memorial Day.
It was a time to remember those who have died while experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity.
Soon after the last light on the shortest day of the year, Missourians gathered to read the names of those who are no longer with us.
The names of the 24 unhoused who died in 2023 were also written on paper lanterns.
It's harder to acknowledge those names because the conversation about houseless here in Missoula has become so polarized —- from the opening of the Johnson Street shelter early to the camping ban in our public parks.
“We will remember them as artists and as comics and storytellers,” one speaker at the event said. It was a quick memorial service but people who attended said it was powerful, helping to remind all of us that homelessness isn't a vague issue but a very real problem hurting real people.
“It's really important to humanize the challenges that we're talking about. I think a lot of people forget that there's a person behind every data point and that the person they might see sleeping on the sidewalk has connections,” said Missoula Homless Programs manager Emily Armstrong. “They have family members and people who really care about them later.”
A similar memorial was also held on Thursday evening at the Johnson Street Shelter.
