Joe Price, who works as a Housing Navigator with Housing Matters, said that when he met Betty Scott, he was impressed with her willingness to help and offer a prayer for anyone who came in to the homeless shelter in which she worked.
“If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be where I’m standing,” said Price.
Brian Lands, Service Navigation Coordinator for Housing matters, described his friend Billie Young as a compassionate person who “had a boundless pool of love that came from her,”
“The world is a little bit different from having lost her,” Lands said.
Alie Soares said that she and Marco Perez promised each other they would spend the upcoming holidays together so they wouldn’t have to face them alone.
“Marco was my best friend,” she said.
Price, Lands and Soares were among a handful of people who spoke of their friends who died in 2025 during the 26th annual Homeless Memorial Service Friday at the Portuguese Hall in Santa Cruz, an event that drew about 100 people.
As of Nov. 30, 35 people experiencing homelessness had died in the county in 2025, according to data from the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency.
Deaths occurred on the streets, in hospitals and in care facilities. While officials noted the number may rise slightly as cases are finalized, it represents a sharp decline from the 75 deaths recorded last year.
The ceremony, held in conjunction with National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, has been a local tradition for more than two decades.
Organized by the county’s Human Services Department Housing for Health Division, the Homeless Persons’ Health Project and Housing Matters, the annual gathering offers space for public remembrance and reflection.
Attendees were invited to share brief remembrances of people they had lost.
County health data underscores the disparities faced by people experiencing homelessness, who died at roughly 3.6 times the rate of housed residents, according to county figures.
The disparity is even more pronounced among younger residents.
For people 40 and under, those experiencing homelessness were 25 times more likely to die than their housed peers. In 2025, seven people experiencing homelessness under the age of 40 died, compared with 66 housed residents in the same age group.
Overall, the death rate for homeless people in Santa Cruz County this year was 2,376 per 100,000 people, far higher than the countywide rate of 689 per 100,000 and the national rate of 923 per 100,000.
