LYNN — Dec. 21 is the first day of winter and the longest night of the year. Fittingly, it is also National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. For people without homes, winter days, with their cold temperatures and harsh weather, are not only difficult, but they can also be deadly. The long dark nights of winter compound severe weather and challenge people’s safety and sense of well-being.
The Lynn Continuum of Care (LCoC MA-502), a collaboration of agencies that work together to identify and address the needs of Lynn residents who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, along with the Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development (LHAND), the CoC’s lead agency for addressing homelessness, recognizes National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day by calling attention to the people in our community who have died without a home this year, and those who will die without a home in the coming year.
The CoC recognizes the conditions that individuals and families experiencing homelessness face and sees, through its work, how homelessness takes its toll on both health and life. National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day is a day to remember those without a home who have died during the year while unhoused, unsheltered, living in shelters, transitional housing, or other uninhabitable places and spaces.
On Dec. 21, the CoC will honor those who have lost their lives to the effects of being unhoused. There will be a candlelight vigil at 4 p.m. outside My Brothers Table in the courtyard, with guest speakers from the community, including people with lived experience of homelessness, sharing their stories.
Gourmet Garden restaurant in Swampscott will host a fundraiser from 4-9 p.m. in which 15% of each check will go toward the LCoC Youth Scholarship that is awarded to a high school senior experiencing homelessness in the City.
The CoC is urging those who may be out doing last-minute Christmas shopping to please consider planning stopping in at Gourmet Garden (430 Paradise Road) for dinner to support a worthy cause.
In order for the fundraiser to be in effect, orders may not be placed through a restaurant app. RSVP by Dec. 18 using this link: groupraise.com/events/316425.
