All Archival Digital Information Related to the Homeless Persons' Memorial Vigil is Located on This Page.

Each December, the Denver community comes together on the shortest day of the year to honor those neighbors who passed away in the preceding year while experiencing homelessness. For more than 35 years, the Coalition has hosted this event in honor of those who have died in the previous year. For many, this is the only service to mark their death. 

VIGIL 2024:

For the thirty-fifth year,  Denver community members gathered in front of the steps of the Denver City and County Building on Thursday evening to attend the “We Will Remember: Homeless Persons' Memorial Vigil.” Hosted by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, the candlelight vigil and name-reading ceremony paid tribute to our neighbors who lived on the streets of the Denver metropolitan area and passed away during 2024. This will be the only memorial service honoring the lives of many of these individuals. The public is welcome and invited to attend this event.  

This year’s program included songs by Denver Chorale, opening and closing remarks, eulogy by Randle Loeb, and the reading of names by local service provider organizations. 

The program took place from 4:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., but full event was from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and included luminaries surrounding the area honoring each of the at least 294 individuals who passed away between November 1, 2023, and October 31, 2024. This is a decrease from 311 individuals in the previous year. The program with list of names is located here. 

The event also featured a collection drive for new winterwear donations including new socks and gloves, or other new winterwear to donate.

Thank you to our partners: Catholic Charities, City and County of Denver, City of Lakewood, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, Colorado Village Collaborative, The Delores Project, Denver Office of the Medical Examiner, Denver Rescue Mission, The Denver VOICE, The Gathering Place, Harm Reduction Action Center, Lakewood Police Department, Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, Rocky Mountain Refuge for End of Life Care, The Salvation Army, Senior Support Services, St. Francis Center, Urban Peak, Volunteers of America Colorado, and more.

More information on trends in deaths of those experiencing homelessness in Denver can be found in our annual Death Review, available here. 

Visit the Vigil Archive Page to learn more about past events. 

VIGIL 2023: 

The 2023 We Will Remember: Homeless Persons’ Memorial Vigil featured a short program including music, a eulogy, and the reading of the names of each individual experiencing homelessness who died in 2023 by local community members, followed by the crowd recitation of “We Will Remember” after each name. This year, 311 names were read. The event took place at 5:00 PM on Thursday, December 21st outside the Denver & City County Building located at 1437 Bannock Street. In addition to the program, luminary memorials were placed outside the building, each with the name of an unhoused neighbor who passed. 

A livestream was made available through a partnership with Denver Community Media. That link is available here. 

In addition, guests made winter wear donations. The Coalition estimates that over 30 coats were donated along with dozens of socks, hats, and gloves.

Thank you to the following partners who helped to provide names or otherwise make this event happen:
Catholic Charities, Christ in the City, City of Denver, City of Golden, City of Lakewood, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, Colorado Safe Parking Initiative, Colorado Village Collaborative, The Delores Project, Denver Basic Income Project, Denver Office of the Medical Examiner, Denver Public Library, Denver Rescue Mission, The Denver VOICE, Everyday Epics, The Gathering Place, Helping Hands for Dignity Coalition, Harm Reduction Action Center, Lakewood Left, Lakewood Police Department, Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, Denver Health, Rocky Mountain Refuge for End of Life Care, The Salvation Army, Senior Support Services, St. Francis Center, UCHealth, Urban Peak, Volunteers of America

To see all names listed on the program for the December 21 event, please click here.

If you would like to examine the data of the deaths of people experiencing homelessness, please view the 2023 Death Review here.