A memorial vigil remembered those who lost their lives while experiencing homelessness this year.
The Montgomery County Homeless Solutions Policy Board lined up 50 pairs of shoes in Courthouse Square to recognize those lost. The youngest victim was only 14 days old.
The latest data shows that more than 4,000 households experienced homelessness in Montgomery County in 2023.
The county also reported that nearly 700 people were sleeping in an emergency shelter or on the streets in a single night in January of this year.
Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr. spoke at the vigil on Friday, Dec. 20. A number of factors contribute to homelessness in Dayton, he said.
"That included economic hardship, sometimes mental health, sometimes other issues they can deal with in terms of alcoholism," he said. "There are challenges that we all have to address."
During the vigil, a representative from the Montgomery County Youth Action Board read a poem by Aryel Newman, which was followed by a live performance of "A Place Called Home," performed by Jessica Abernathy and Matt Dunn.
Angel Bernard, director of community programs at Homefull, named all 50 of the lives lost this year.
“They have families, they're moms, dads, brothers, sisters. And sometimes we are the only family that they might have," she said. "And we just want to acknowledge that they are not a number. They're not just someone on the street. They are an actual person.”
Mark Craig, community support specialist for Homefull, closed out the event with a testimonial on homelessness. He said he's been working for almost 18 years to end homelessness.
"I believe that if we had the will, we could work ourselves out of a job," he said. "I'm not saying that we, as an individual, can single handedly end homelessness or that Homefull as an agency can single handedly end homelessness, or that we as collective agencies or as a city can end homelessness. But I do believe that we, as a country, could end homelessness."
Each year, the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners declare the longest night of the year as National Homeless Persons Memorial Day.
“It's really to not only hold in remembrance, but to inspire us to do better next year," Montgomery County Commissioner Carolyn Rice said. "And it really speaks to all the collaboration that we have here in the community around this critical issue.”
The city of Dayton also collected donations of hats and gloves for unhoused people at the vigil.
Rice said the board of commissioners and the city of Dayton are committed to ending homelessness.
"Affordable housing is not a privilege, it is a basic human need," she said. "Let us commit ourselves to honoring the lives of those we have lost by working to prevent these tragedies from happening again."
