In memorium

I was telling my next door neighbor that I attended the National Homeless Persons' Remembrance Day where the Women In Black stood vigil to honor the 36 homeless women and men in King County who died living outdoors or by violence in 2009. She said the newspapers and TV stations should run those names. I told her there weren't ANY media people in attendance. If there was a car crash in front of where the Women In Black were standing they might have covered that.

For the record here are the people who were remembered in downtown Seattle on December 21, 2009.

SAMUEL KAYS (31), DANIEL NELSON (62), MICHAEL ROBINSON (49), DAN OLSON (48), TERESA FERNEN (46), WES SINGLETARY III (39), ARIC MAYHEW (31), BERNARDINO MACEO-TOIRAC (55), TIMOTHY KOCH (50), RULON SMITH (55), JEFFERY EIKE (46), KULJEET SINGH (44), JOSEPH HRADEC (37), BRIAN REITAN (37), MIGUEL U. GARCIA (77), STEVEN SAYERS (45), JAMES WARE (48), PAT VANSTELLE (49), FELICIA JOHNSON (23), JAMES BOHRER (40), MICHAEL FARR (39), LANCE LODER (58), GERALD RUSSELL (42), MARK JACOBSEN (53), GERALD SCOTT (67), RONALD BARBOUR (54), GARY CHRISTENSON (59), REBEKAH WOODS (43), MICHAEL LOVELADY (51), WADE DOYLE (48), EDWARD COOK III (64), PHIL CARRASCO (55), DANIEL CARSON (49), MICHAEL LINDSAY (51).

At least nine homeless people died by suicide and at least four were murdered in 2009.

Getting the word

I attended three events on Monday- Real Change's Surviving The Streets at City Hall; The 2010 Declaration Of A State Of Emergency at Nickelsville and the Women In Black standing in vigil at Westlake to honor and remember the 36 homeless men and women who died on the streets in King County in 2009.
Local TV stations filmed the Surviving The Streets giveaway but a common question at the latter two events was where is the media? This blog hopes to become a voice for homeless issues in Seattle and King County.