Utah’s homeless advocates and service providers gathered for a virtual vigil on Monday — the longest night of the year — to honor the lives of the 53 homeless or formerly homeless people who died in the state in 2020.
They were “daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and friends,” said Pamela Atkinson, a community advocate for the homeless, during the vigil.
“These were people with vibrant lives and careers,” she added. “They endured through struggles and cherished moments that brought them joy. Tonight, we remember each and every one of them.”
Utah’s homeless individuals also have not been able to escape the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which has raged through the state over the past few months, sickening more than 250,000 and killing more than 1,000 Utahns. Death data shows at least three of the deaths among people experiencing homelessness were attributed to COVID-19.
The Fourth Street Clinic’s list also attributes four of the deaths to cancer, three to cardiac arrest and two to congestive heart failure. A cause of death was not listed or known for 28 of the 53 people on the list.
Many people experiencing homelessness, Atkinson noted, “have a more difficult time managing their chronic illness, injury or disease. And statistically, they die younger than those who are housed.”
The average age of those who died was 58 — close to the average U.S. life expectancy of 51 for people experiencing homelessness but a far cry below the average age of 78 years for the population at large. The youngest person who died was 27, while the oldest was 97.
James Jarrard, a spokesman for the Fourth Street Clinic, said the dip more likely represents an undercount because of the pandemic than it does an actual drop in deaths.
“I feel like individuals at different agencies may have not necessarily dropped the ball but I think [reporting on these deaths] slipped through the cracks” as they scrambled to deal with the public health crisis, he said in an interview on Monday.
But while the pandemic has posed many challenges for the state’s homeless service providers, Atkinson praised their response to the coronavirus, which she said has been characterized by a heightened collaboration among those who care for the homeless population.
“It is truly tremendous,” she said, “to see our community partners working in tandem, working collaboratively to get men, women and families out of homelessness and into a life of security and stability.”
Around 31% of those who died this year had a place to call home when they passed, Atkinson said.
During her remarks, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall mourned those who died while noting the symbolism of holding the vigil on the longest night of the year.
“Our winters in Salt Lake City are dark and cold and long, and no one knows this more intimately than the individuals and the families who are without shelter,” she said. “We mourn those who died this year and we think of their loved ones and families and the pain they feel.”
“Leaders must work collectively to find sustainable solutions so that no one goes without shelter,” she said, “so that no one dies on our streets.”
