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Memorials held for 197 unhoused who died in Santa Clara County
Several memorials held for 197 people who died while unhoused in 2024 in Santa Clara County
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Homeless advocates in Santa Clara County are remembering the nearly two hundred unhoused residents who died this year. On Friday, several events marked a grim milestone with pledges to continue working to solve the problem.
At San Jose City Hall, tombstones listed the names and ages of everyone who was unhoused who passed away this year. Two were over 100 years old as well as four babies who did not reach their first birthday.
In a nearby event, at HomeFirst, a non-profit resource center for the unhoused, Jackie Escobar recounted her experience being homeless for four years.
"When I first fell into homelessness my daughter was 6 months old," Escobar said.
As Escobar tried to tell her story of life on the streets the words would not come, the emotions just too raw. She said she was heartbroken when she heard how many unhoused residents had died in 2024.
"One hundred and ninety-seven people who did not make it out of homelessness. And people whose experience I can relate," Escobar said, wiping away tears.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, and others, read all 197 names aloud as part of the memorial service. Those in attendance lit candles, and observed a moment of silence, in honor of those who passed away.
Mahan said the city expects to open at least 1,000 safe, managed spaces for the unhoused next year.
"We know it does not have to be this way. And we know that the longer we let our neighbors languish on the streets the harder it is to ever help them turn their lives around and achieve the self-sufficiency and dignity they so deserve," Mahan said.
Rep.-elect Sam Liccardo said at least 44 cities nationwide have more than a thousand people sleeping on the streets each night. He said he will work in the next congress to address the issue.
"So, yes, we have our own brand of this crisis, but this is a crisis that is national and requires a federal response," said Liccardo.
In a separate event at San Jose City Hall, called The Tombstone Project, organizers set out individual tombstones for those unhoused residents who passed away in 2024.
Organizers of the event said they believe the city, and the county, can do more.
"We keep setting records every year. This year we set a record for the number of dead babies, dead Asians, dead females, dead [Black people]– people who died from exposure. Like, we should not set new records," Shaunn Cartwright, the organizer of the annual event, said.
The most recent survey of the unhoused shows that 9,900 people in Santa Clara County are experiencing homelessness on any given night with a majority of those being unsheltered.
Of the fatalities recorded in 2024, nearly a quarter were over the age of 65 making seniors one of the fastest growing, and most vulnerable, age groups.