By Mike Finney

DOVER — With temperatures dropping to a brisk 40 degrees and darkness setting in well before 5 p.m. Tuesday, it was easy to imagine the plight that Delaware’s homeless population undergoes every night as they search for food and shelter.

That’s why the first day of winter and the longest night of the year was the perfect time for the Housing Alliance Delaware to recognize Homeless Persons Memorial Day on The Green in downtown Dover.

Families and individuals without shelter often have no voice and suffer the scorn of passersby who don’t understand how they found themselves in such dire situations.

Rachel Stucker, executive director of Housing Alliance Delaware, said it was important to bring light to struggles of the homeless population and make efforts to find solutions.

“I want to thank everyone who made it out here tonight, I know it’s not an easy time of year to do it,” Ms. Stucker told the crowd of around 25 people gathered under the “Peace” sign in front of the Old State House. “It is an important thing to do to gather each year and to remember the people who lost their lives while homeless or due to being homeless.”

The hourlong memorial service for Delaware’s homeless individuals who died this year included a reading of 18 names by Jeanine Kleimo of the Dover Interfaith Mission and Carrie Casey of the New Castle Hope Center. They also remembered those who passed away who were not among the list of names.

Those gathered in the crowd lit candles in memory of those who have passed away.

Prayers were delivered in hopes that solutions can be found to solve homelessness within the state, such as adding an abundance of affordable housing and more sustainable employment, even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Homeless Persons Memorial Day is an annual event commemorated in more than 180 cities and counties across the United States. Donations for the “hands and feet” of Delaware’s homeless neighbors were collected at the event.

Housing Alliance Delaware called attention to this time of economic hardship for many Delawareans.

In 2021, there was a 35% increase in homelessness on the night of the Point in Time Count in January. More than 500 children under the age of 18 were sleeping in homeless shelters or hotels and motels due to a lack of safe housing.

In FY21, HAD was contacted by 9,500 households experiencing homelessness or a housing crisis. Of those households, 2,400 reported that they were unsheltered, sleeping in a car, park or other place not meant for human habitation.

“We saw a 35% increase in homelessness in Delaware in 2021 and shelters and food pantries cannot meet the increased demand,” said Ms. Stucker. “We use this occasion to call on all Delawareans to commit to providing affordable housing, emergency shelter and medical care for our most vulnerable citizens.”

State Rep. Eric Morrison, D-Glasgow, said that is simply not acceptable.

“Sometimes we forget that homeless people are people,” he said. “They are not shadows, they are not nuisances, they are not to be ignored or looked through, they are not stick figures wandering through our streets, sleeping on the sidewalk or in their cars.

“They are people.”

Rep. Morrison presented a call to action in which he said he would soon be introducing legislation that he hopes will eliminate panhandling and loitering ordinances in Delaware

“We need to get rid of criminalization of homelessness and poverty around the country, (and with) a frighteningly increasing amount of it in legislation and in ordinances, it’s very easy to become discouraged,” he said.

“I would not be in office today if I had not been inspired by a gentleman named Senator Bernie Sanders. And when I’m discouraged, I often remember what he likes to say, which is ‘Despair is not an option.’ And this is a case where despair is not an option. We have too much at stake and we have too many people counting on us.”