Memorial honors those who died while homeless

By Aiyana Moya

SANTA CRUZ—A soft chorus of voices, coming from the Santa Cruz Threshold Singers, welcomes guests as they walk into the Santa Cruz County Vets building Dec. 21 where the annual Homeless Memorial is taking place. 

This year marks the first year since the pandemic that the memorial, which honors those who died while experiencing homelessness, has taken place in-person. The rows of chairs in the building fill up as Joey Crottogini, the health center manager for Homeless Persons Health Project, starts to speak. People continue to wander in, standing against the walls and in the back of the room, packing the space. 

Decorated on the walls of the building are colorful squares of paper, with the names and ages of the unhoused people who have passed.

This year, according to the County, 90 people experiencing homelessness died on the streets of Santa Cruz County, along with another 45 housed individuals who previously experienced homelessness. In total, there’s an estimated 2,299 people experiencing homelessness in the county, slightly more than the year prior, which counted 2,167 unhoused people. Last year, the memorial honored approximately 95 unhoused people who had died. 

The average life expectancy for someone living without permanent housing is around 50 years of age, almost 20 years lower than someone who is housed, said David Davis, Homeless Persons Health Project analyst. 

“Struck down in the prime has never been truer,” Davis said. “Housing contributes years to our lifespans.” 

Davis said there’s no shortage of theories as to why that age gap exists: deaths from overdosing fentanyl, which are on the rise across the county and country, is a common one people point to. From January to September this year, there were 64 drug-related deaths from overdoses in the county, according to data from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office. In comparison to the last four years, the county is set to outpace the number of overdose-related deaths. 

Davis points out 70% of people overdosing are housed.  

“The issue of addiction goes well beyond people experiencing homelessness,” Davis said. “The only thing that separates people experiencing homelessness who are struggling with addiction, and people who are housed with these disorders, really comes down to money and support.” 

He said there’s one certainty: these deaths are preventable. 

“It is possible to house everyone,” Davis said. “We literally have to see the forest for the trees, and decide it is worth giving up a few acres of land so that thousands of people can be in the house…It gets tiring standing up here year after year, talking about the number of people experiencing homelessness and how they end up dying.”