“Time for us to join together and focus on the solutions that Maine’s most vulnerable people need – shelter beds to meet the immediate needs of people who are unsheltered, Site-based Housing First to give people their own bed and roof and the supports they need to stay inside, and more affordable housing to ensure that individuals and families can secure and maintain housing
— Daniella Cameron, Preble Street Deputy Director
On December 20, at 4:30 p.m., Portland’s Monument Square filled with a crowd gathered for the annual vigil honoring the 49 members of the greater Portland homeless community who died in 2024. Participants began the evening in front of the MaineHealth-Preble Street Learning Collaborative at 20 Portland Street and then proceeded to Monument Square for a commemoration and candle-lighting ceremony. Lumen ARRT created a large-scale projection in Monument Square to memorialize those who passed. Lumen ARRT is a project of the Artists Rapid Response Team that creates video projections as a visual voice to bring awareness to issues of social, economic, and environmental justice.
“I’ve lost so many lovely people around me,” said Bill-Jo Burgess, a person with lived experience of homelessness.
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According to the organizers, this event has been a tradition in Portland for 30 years, providing a solemn opportunity for the community to mourn the countless lives lost and to pledge action toward changing the broken systems that allow so many individuals to slip through the cracks.
The causes of death among this vulnerable population include chronic medical conditions, overdose, old age, infections, and suicide. The life expectancy of individuals who have experienced chronic homelessness is approximately 50 years – 28 years shorter than the average life expectancy of those who are housed.
“This event is a time for us to honor the humanity in our community,” said Daniella Cameron, Preble Street Deputy Director, “and share our love for the people we lost this year.”
After the names of those who died this year in the homeless community were read aloud, attendees lit memorial candles. A moment of silence followed, accompanied by the tolling of the First Parish Church bells, with one chime for each person lost this year.
“Their lives can never ever be replaced,” said Matt Brown of Hope Squad Maine. “Their memory is always with us, it will never die.”
To close the program, local performers Phil Hoose, Toby Hollander, Nate Nickerson, Sandi St. George, Peggy Akers, Megan Connolly, Lisa Derman, and Lisa Bisceglia led the crowd in singing a few songs.
“I was homeless in 2020,” said attendee Liza Franklin. “It was a terrible experience, and I know how hard it is. I’m glad that people still think about them and come together to commemorate their lives.”
This annual event was sponsored by the City of Portland, Greater Portland Health, MaineHealth,
Northern Light Mercy Hospital, and Preble Street.
