PITTSBURGH — Community members gathered on Saturday night to remember the lives of people who died in Pittsburgh while experiencing homelessness.
The candlelight vigil occurs every year on or around the winter solstice — the longest night of the year and National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day.
Service providers and community members honored the 16 people known to have died while homeless in the last year. It was also a chance for the service providers to connect with people currently experiencing homelessness and offer them resources.
“There’s a lot of barriers to housing and the organizations within the homeless services in Allegheny County. That’s what we’re here for, is to help break down those barriers,” said organizer Danielle Schnauber Jones.
The vigil took place at a memorial on the corner of Fort Pitt Boulevard and Grant Street that commemorates the lives of 258 people who died while homeless in Pittsburgh since 1992.
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