Homeless Memorial 2020

4th annual remembrance of people experienced homelessness in their lives, and died in the past year.

2020 will be our fourth year of honoring the lives of those people in our community who died this past year, and experienced homelessness during their lives. This Homeless Memorial is a collaboration with Cornell Scott Hill Health Center, and would typically include an indoor worship service with lighting of candles and a display of shoes – each pair representing a person who has died. This year, we are continuing our commemoration in modified form, by constructing a small memorial on the front gate of Trinity Church. This memorial will allow people to pass by in their own time and pay their respects.

Representatives from Cornell Scott Hill and Chapel on the Green will gather briefly at 11am on Monday, Dec. 21, the day of the winter solstice, to read the names of those we remember and offer prayers. We will determine guidelines around this service closer to the date, based on public health advice – though it will most certainly be outdoors, very brief, & socially distanced. We plan to livestream this event to Facebook to share it more widely, for those who are not able to participate in person.

• How you can help:

  • We are currently collecting the names of those people in the homeless community who have died. If there is someone you would like us to remember, send names to Jessica Arroyo – jarroyo@cornellscott.org

  • Donate shoes – as usual, we are collecting shoes as part of our Memorial. We may use these shoes symbolically during our prayer service, although we certainly will distribute them to people in need shortly after the small gathering, as is our custom. Do you have lightly used shoes that you can donate to people in need? Contact Jane Esmonde at cotg@trinitynewhaven.org