Your Stories: Mercy’s Healthcare for the Homeless Holds Memorial Service

Each year around the winter solstice, Health Care for the Homeless programs across the country hold memorials for those who have died within the year while experiencing homelessness. Established in 1990, the increasingly popular Homeless Persons' Memorial Day is observed with prayers, candles, moments of silence and the reading of names on December 21, the first day of winter and the longest night of the year.

Mercy Medical Center’s Health Care for the Homeless team hosted a memorial to remember those who have passed away this year. Held in the Mercy chapel, the service included readings, reflection time, and the opportunity to remember each individual we have lost. Colleagues who have worked with these individuals also placed ornaments on the trees on the altar and offered a few words about them in what was a moving tribute.

The theme of this years’ service was sea glass. “Sea glass is beautiful because of what it has endured and how it has reinvented itself time and time again."

Submitted by Danielle Champagne, CHWB, Mercy Medical Center.

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