For the 19th year, we will meet on Auditorium Shores to acknowledge the men, women and children who have died on the streets of Austin during the past year. This year, newly elected City Council member Kathie Tovo will be our Key Note speaker. Dr. Reverend Sid Hall will lead us in prayer. Our lovely Sara Hickman will grace us with songs, and Armin Steege will close with Taps.

The House the Homeless Memorial Sunrise Service will start at 6:57am on Sunday November 13th and last an hour. The event will be at the Homeless Memorial at South 1st and Riverside Streets. The memorial tree, bench and plaque that comprise the memorial rest 75 yards west of the Fanny Davis Gazebo and 75 yards east of the Stevie Ray Vaughn statue. There will be breakfast food and drink. Please join us to show our respect for our fallen friends.

Click the blue link for some more information on the 2010 Homeless Memorial Sunrise Service that took place in Austin last November 14th, including a list of the people we remembered — the homeless men and women who lost their lives in Austin in 2010. Click here to see photos from the 2010 Service.

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For 19 years, House the Homeless has taken time to remember those citizens who have died in poverty in Austin/Travis County.  The first memorial was an informal march from the capitol to then Town Lake after Richard and others realized how many friend had died.  At that time they counted twenty-three souls.

In 1993, Richard obtained a spot on now Lady Bird Lake to plant a live oak and place a memorial plaque.

The plaque reads:

Homelessness
It is the essence of depression
It is immoral
It is socially corrupt
And it is an act of violence.
In the memory of those who have lost their lives on the streets of Austin.

In November 2009, House the Homeless held the 17th Memorial and read the names of 158 citizens including two infants.

In years past, each person has been remembered by a hat on a stake:

Or a name tied to a carnation or on a ribbon on the tree. This year the dead were remembered with hand made origami swans.  The name of each person lost in 2009 was attached to an origami swan. Some believe that the bird will carry the spirit of that individual to heaven.

The ultimate goal for House the Homeless is to reduce the untimely deaths of homeless citizens by providing opportunities to get off the streets through job training, living wages, case management, transitional housing, and affordable housing.

In the interim, each winter, HTH holds its thermal underwear party to provide warm clothes to protect individuals living outside. This protection is needed to avoid exposure and hypothermia.  The end of each year’s Memorial signals the kick off of the Thermal Underwear Drive when we work diligently to raise the funds necessary to purchase life saving winter clothing.