‘We Remember’: Names of 65 Who Died Homeless in Santa Barbara Read at Longest Night Ceremony
Police Chief, Religious Leaders, and Members of Homeless Community Pay Respects at Courthouse During Prayerful, Solemn Gathering
About 80 people — including Santa Barbara Police Chief Kelly Gordon, Father Larry from the Old Mission, several others sporting a clergy collar, and more than handful of people without homes — gathered under the County Courthouse’s protective archway as day turned into night Thursday evening and a light rain fell to mark the passing of about 65 people who died homeless in Santa Barbara during the past 12 months. It was a prayerful and solemn gathering, one that’s been observed every year on December 21 — the shortest day and longest night of the year — the past 12 years.
“This may be the longest night, but it’s also the wettest, and it may be the loneliest,” declared Wayne Mellinger, a long-time mental-health advocate who helped launch the event. “No one should die on the streets, neglected by their community.”
Two women read the names of those who departed, explaining that they had gathered 65 names from others who lived on the streets. The real number, they said, was probably higher. The rule of thumb, they said they’d heard, was that two homeless people die each week. These numbers, they cautioned, had not been officially vetted.
