Homeless Persons' Memorial Day 2023
Homeless Person’s Memorial Day
Thursday, Dec. 21
National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day occurs each year on the longest night of the year, the winter solstice. Join Chester County Partnership to End Homelessness on Thursday, Dec. 21, as we commemorate National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day through a powerful art installation.
Art Installation
Historic Chester County Court House
Thursday, December 21, 2023
4:00 PM 4:30 PM
Tori Fisher – a Lived Experience Advisory Board Member – and a team of volunteers from community organizations, local non-profits, and County government have created 436 origami cranes to display at the Historic Chester County Courthouse, to honor each of the 436 individuals that were identified in our point-in-time count at the beginning of this year.
The installation also has interactive boards displayed where attendees can view the list of individuals who we’ve lost this year due to homelessness, who are represented by 10 black paper cranes in the installation.
436 cRANES
“My name is Tori Fisher. I am a participant of the Lived Experience Advisory Board of the Chester County Partnership to End Homelessness. I am also a member of Stages Arts Initiative of Chester County.
Each year the Chester County Partnership to End Homelessness has a “point in time count”. The “point in time count” hopes to accurately record the number of people who are experiencing homelessness in Chester County on any given night. That number is 436.
The 436 white paper cranes symbolize the number of people who are experiencing homelessness on any given night in Chester County. There are black paper cranes scattered throughout the art piece. The black cranes memorialize the individuals who have died while they were experiencing homelessness in Chester County during this past year.
The presentation of this art project coincides with a national event organized by the National Coalition for the Homeless. The event is formally called the Homeless Persons Memorial.
My vision for this art piece is to dramatically display the number of people who are homeless in our county and to bring attention to the severity of the situation by creating a memorial for those who have died this year while experiencing homelessness.
My hope is to impact the community with this piece. The piece itself is a group project. It is a community project. Several people in our community have joined together to build this piece and to have conversations about the situation of homelessness. We have sipped on coffee together. We have cried together. We have folded paper together. And we have allowed compassion to guide our responses to this issue. I hope the fragility of this piece stuns you. I hope seeing the numbers displayed in the form of a crane compels you to action or to volunteerism. And I also hope that if you are one of the people whom the crane represents that you know you are part of our community. You are not a display piece. You are not defined by your circumstance. Please press forward. Do not allow rain or snow or wind to crush you. Reach out to someone you trust. Be well. Be safe. We are in this together.”
iNDIVIDUALS OF hONOR
This year, we honor the 10 individuals in Chester County who we’ve lost to homelessness in 2023.
Richard M.
V. S.
Michael S.
Sharon M.
Heather S.
G. A.
Arnold M.
S. T.
Jennifer W.
Timothy A.
Thank You to Our Community Contributors
How You Can Help
Since 1990, this day has served as a poignant reminder of the individuals we have lost while experiencing homelessness. This year, we unite to make an impactful statement: we cannot let this be the start of another year of growing homelessness in Chester County. We know there are many causes of homelessness. You can help support people with safe, affordable housing.
Learn more about how you can volunteer or donate to the cause of ending homelessness in our community.