Longest Night Ceremony Commemorates Lives of Homeless People Who Died in Santa Barbara This Year
Religious Leaders, Homeless Advocates Among Those Who Attended Wednesday-Evening Vigil at Courthouse
About 40 people holding battery-powered Candelária assembled in front of the Santa Barbara County Courthouse this Wednesday evening — the longest night of the year — to commemorate the lives of the homeless people who died in Santa Barbara this past year.
| Credit: Nick Welsh
Unitarian minister Julia Hamilton pounded the thick courthouse door three times with her fist, declaring, “We’re here to ask the whole community to bear witness to these lives.” Hamilton was one of several religious leaders who participated; others included a rabbi, a cantor, a Quaker, a Tibetan Buddhist, and two Christian folk singers.
Before the brief ceremony had concluded, the names of 23 homeless individuals who died in Santa Barbara the past year were read aloud. That list was not meant to be exhaustive or complete. No information was provided as to whether these individuals died inside or outside, of what causes, how old they were, where they were from, or how they found themselves on the street.
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