During these difficult and very challenging times it is sometimes hard to remember those that live in the blindspots or shadows of our community. I have been working for the past 11 years as a social worker providing services to one of the most visible yet least understood groups of residents — our homeless.
Every morning I grab the newspaper and read through less news and more pages of obituaries. Those who are mentioned in the obituaries have families, friends and co-workers missing them, remembering them and mourning their passing. When the residents I work with die, there is often no family, few friends and no memorial or obituary.
During normal times, a memorial service would be held, bringing together staff, a volunteer chaplain, friends and community in prayer and memories. These remembrances have not happened, and we have lost eight residents since March. Remember, all those homeless folks you see or don’t see are someone’s child, brother, sister, father, mother, uncle or aunt, and deserve to be remembered. You may not know them or ever hear their stories, yet they are still all residents in our community.
Every year in Pioneer Park on the winter solstice, Dec. 21, there is a remembrance and a reading of the names of homeless individuals lost in the past year. Please help wherever and however you can in our community with those who are less fortunate. In remembrance of Alvin, Dana, Annabelle, Tim, Leroy, Kenny, Boyd and Darla.
Nils Abramson, Salt Lake City