Nearly 100 people experiencing homelessness have died on the streets of D.C. so far this year.
Thursday is National Homeless Persons Memorial Day, and it comes as the number of people experiencing homelessness across the nation has increased — and so as the number of those who have died on our streets.
Advocates marched Thursday morning on the streets of downtown D.C., demanding more housing options.
Carrying a casket representing the nearly 100 people who have died on D.C. streets so far this year, they marched to the Church of the Epiphany, where advocates, D.C. officials and many who are currently living on the streets gathered inside.
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This was the 34th year the event has been held here.
"And we do it on this day because it's the longest night of the year, the winter solstice," said Donald Whitehead, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. "And so we want to make sure that people understand that tens of thousands of people are dying on streets in one of the richest countries in the history of the world."
Here in D.C., homeless encampments are common sights.
According to Laura Zeilinger, director of D.C.'s Department of Human Services:
- Last year, 77 people experiencing homelessness in D.C. died on the streets
- So far this year, that number is 90
- And of those 90, 57 of them had been approved for housing vouchers but were still in the process of being placed — a process that has come under scrutiny for being too slow
"We've allocated more resources than ever before to scale, and that we're connecting people who need them to those resources," Zeilinger said. "And we are working to do a number of things to make that process of moving into housing more efficient."
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"Anytime anyone in our country, and particularly in our community, in our nation's capital, that somebody dies without the dignity of a home, it is heartbreaking, and it is a call to action," she said.
Whitehead warned this is not just a problem here in D.C.
"It's happening everywhere," he said. "It's happening in suburban communities. It's happening in rural communities. It's happening in urban communities. We again have seen a 12% increase over the last year, according to the Annual Homeless Assessment Report."
According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, of the 90 people who have died this year, the oldest was 82, the youngest 24.
