Bellingham to hold candlelight memorial for homeless who died

On Monday, Dec. 21, community members are invited to City Hall to remember people who have died this year after experiencing homelessness.

The candlelight memorial will start at 5 p.m. on the steps of City Hall, 210 Lottie St., on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year.

The short, nondenominational service is open to everyone and is hosted by the Whatcom County Coalition to End Homelessness.

The memorial will be the first of its kind in Bellingham, said Mike Parker, director of the Whatcom Homeless Service Center. The hope is to hold one each year.

“A lot of those people don’t have a memorial service, and a lot of those folks are even unidentified when they pass away,” Parker said.

Speakers will read the names of those who died this year either while homeless or after having experienced homelessness. Bellingham Mayor Kelli Linville will present a proclamation.

Even after finding housing, many people who have lived on the streets die younger than the general population, Parker said.

“Life on the street is very hard, and it factors into premature deaths,” he said. “We find that people, when you house them, who have been homeless for long stretches, they really do, they die too early. The memorial will be for anybody who has experienced it at any time.”

One man who died while homeless recently was David Ireland, who passed away on a cold weekend under a porch near Sehome Village.

Ireland was approached a few times by members of the local Homeless Outreach Team. They offered to help him find housing, but each time he would come up with somebody he thought they should shelter first, Parker said.

“He would always come up with somebody who was more vulnerable than he was,” Parker said. “I think that struck the Homeless Outreach Team, and it certainly struck me, that somebody would be that way, that selfless.”

A memorial service for Ireland was held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Dec. 10.

Monday’s memorial is part of a movement by the National Health Care for the Homeless Council to encourage communities to hold homeless persons’ memorial days on or around the winter solstice.

This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 10:13 AM with the headline "Bellingham to hold candlelight memorial for homeless who died."