We Will Remember
Veteran Laray Kreplin watches the 29th Homeless Person’s Memorial on the steps of the City and County Building. Kreplin was homeless for several years, but says he now lives with social security in a subsidized apartment through the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
By Sarah Ford | Photos by Giles Clasen
Days before Christmas, people gathered to honor those who died on the streets in 2018. In the past year, at least 233 people died while homeless in the Denver area, the fourth year in a row to set a new record of deaths recorded in a single year.
Denver again saw a record high number of people die while living on the streets in 2018. On December 21, 2018, a crowd of about 150 people gathered to honor the at least 233 people who died while experiencing homelessness in the metro area.
It is the fourth year in a row that the number of homeless deaths in Denver has risen, up from 231 names in 2017. It is the most names included in the annual vigil since it began 29 years ago.
“For too many, this will be the only memorial service they will have,” said John Parvensky, president and CEO of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH). “Tonight we remember them, we remember them all.”
Each year, the coalition organizes the Homeless Person Memorial Vigil, held on the steps of the City and County Building in downtown Denver. It is one of dozens of memorials held across the nation on Homeless Persons Memorial Day, which falls on the longest night of the year.
“With the growing affordable housing crisis we are seeing in our community, we are unfortunately likely to see more individuals dying prematurely in the coming year. In a community as rich as ours, it is unconscionable that there are still those without decent shelter and housing,” said Parvensky. “This is not a failure of theirs, it is a failure of ours.”
CCH gathers the names through a collaboration with the Denver Medical Examiner’s Office, which provided 110 names, and the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, which provided 123 names. After the vigil, eight people also shouted out names of those who passed and were not listed, bringing the total to at least 241 people.
According to the World Health Organization, life expectancy for Coloradans as of 2016 is 78.1 years. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the life expectancy of persons experiencing homelessness to be just in the 40s. Mortality among the homeless population has increased by four to nine times, according to the CDC, due to unique challenges such as chronic illness, infections, violence, poor mental health, and substance abuse.
Cause of death and demographic information for those who died was available on only 91 individuals at the time of the vigil. The Denver Medical Examiner’s Office had data for deaths occurring between November 1, 2017, and the end of October 2018.
In that time, out of 91 deaths, 27 were identified as being primarily due to drug overdoses, including opioids and other substances.
It comes a year after Colorado reported the highest number of deaths due to drug overdoses in state history. In 2017, the Colorado Department of Health and the Environment determined that at least 1,012 people died of overdoses across the state, higher than the number of people killed in car crashes.
In 2018, difficulty in accessing medical care and resources to overcome drug addictions continued for the Denver homeless community. Arapahoe House, the largest drug and alcohol treatment center in the metro region, closed its doors in January 2018. Nearly 90 percent of its patients received little to no income.
“We must re-double our efforts to expand adequate, and available, and accessible substance treatment options for those who are addicted, and to provide safe and affordable housing to help reduce and end homelessness in our community,” Parvensky said.
The Medical Examiner’s Office also found that physical trauma accounted for 23 deaths, heart disease for 13, and the rest of the 91 confirmed deaths were listed as due to alcohol, hypothermia, pneumonia, or other diseases.
According to the coalition, at least 1,348 people experiencing homelessness in the metro region have died since 2008.
Before names were read at the vigil, Randel Loeb — a CCH board member, formerly houseless individual, and a founding member of the VOICE — read a memoriam to those who had died.
“We will not be denied, we will never be denied,” he said. “We will rise no matter what. We will survive, no matter how. We’ll rise. We’re people who have contributed the utmost with our sweat, our tears, our lives.” ■
Denver’s Homeless Memorial
During a candlelight vigil last month, Denver mourned those who lived on the streets of Denver and passed away in 2018. We have printed their names here to honor their memories.
Tanisha Alton
Phillip Alvarez
Jeffrey Anderson
Gerlinde Andrews
Robert Atencio
Kent Austin, III
Daniel Bacon
Victor Barela
Thomas Barringer
Brad Beasley
Dennis Neal Beckel
Ernest Benally
Earl Black
Richard Boehler
Nicole Boston
Cynthia Brandin
Jordan Brody
Willie Brown, III
Michael Bryant
Phillip Buchanan
Susan Bullock
Willie Lee Caldwell
Kenneth Cash
Angel Castillano (a.k.a. Phillip Martinez)
Angel Cerna, Jr.
Robert Chapman
Edward Chavez
Frank Andrew Clifford (a.k.a. Drew)
Michael Clothier
Jerome Coleman
Dave Conder
Catrina Cordova
Gayleen Cornelius
Jerome Coronado (a.k.a. Rome)
Noel Crawford
Heather Cross
Leroy Cunningham
Raymond Davies
Jimmy Davis
Anthony Del Duca
Mark Derden
Jeannette Dobbs
Brenda Dreiling
John Droegemueller
Deseree Duchene
Joseph Duran
Michael Elkins
Raquel Elliott
Roxie Ellis Perry (a.k.a. Damien)
William Erickson
Michael Eversole
Valeria Fernandez
Karen Fessler
Anthony Fields
Monica Fite
Rita Flammond
Gregory Flatt
Dana Franklin (a.k.a. Randy)
Leslie Gallegos
Joseph Garcia (a.k.a. Mayor)
Sabrina Garcia
Robert Garside
Jason Gauvin
Joseph Gibson
Frank James Gilford
Billy Grant
Andre Griffith
Richard Grove
Nicholas Guest
David Gurule
Jody Haley
Stevin Hamilton
Rashard Hamlin
Diane Hampton
Wayne Hand
Thomas Hansen
Shawn Hart
Jeffrey Harthman
Christian Henry
Dwight Hensen
Thomas Higgins
Phillip Hodgkinson
Ronald Hoffman
Judi Hollis
Vincent Hoyos
Larry Hubbell
Jeffrey Hudnall
Karrie Hudson
John Huerena
Anthony Huff
Jeffery Huffman
Mitchell Hundt
Edward Louis Jackson
Jacob Jaramillo
Charles Ray Johnson
Sean Johnson
Barbara Jones (a.k.a. Wallender)
Alan Joyce
Allen Kay
Patrick Kelly
Kennedy Kindness
Elizabeth King
Steven King
Lacinda Kissiah
Mark Kline
Steven Koglin
Norbert Krehl, II
Terry Laetch
Robert Lane
Anthony Manuel Lanford
Louis D. LaPlaca
Gregory Lee Herrera
Erich Leimgrubler
Bruce Lewis
Carol Livingston
Margaret Long
Arturo Lopez
Adam Loring
William Loring Jones III
Dean Lucero
Mike Lucero
Victor Lynch
Michael Maddox
Ida Maestas
Shirley Mahannah
David Mann
Roger Mapes
Adrian March
Johnny Mares
Leanne Mares
Boyd Martin
Brandon Martin (a.k.a. Meatloaf)
Eric Martin
James W. Martin, Jr.
Hector Martinez
Jamie D. Martinez
Armando Mauleon Servin
Christine Mays
Kevin Mays, Jr.
(a.k.a Mayes)
Gary McCartney
Ann McClelland
Terry McClure
Phillip Meadows
Franklin Meagher (a.k.a. Frankie)
Dennis Miller
Timothy Miller
Lorrie R. Mills-Holmes
Arlene Mondragon
Bernabe Montiel
James Montoya
Bryan Moore
Edward F. Moore
Seth Mosse
Rogelio Munoz, Jr.
Kimberly Murdock
Louis Neal
Tolani Ned
Robin Nelson (a.k.a. Rob)
Leroy Nuanes
James Odom
Debra Oliea
Damson Ortega
Zach Palmer
Michael Pappas
John Paulin
Judith Diana Pearson
Martin Perez
Russell Petersen
Mark Peterson
Jeff Pewo
Mark Phillips
Carol Pretty
Noe Quevedo Valle
Catarino Ramirez
Bridget Riley
Dottie Robertson
Enrique Rocha
Michael Rohr
Vincent Rush
David Ruth
Karen Ryan
Frederick Saiz
Derrick Salone
Roshii Salter
Antonio San Javier Arriaga
Paul Scantland
Kelly Schlehuber
Maria Schneider
Lazaro Sequer
Alan Shaw
Brandi Shaw
Randall Shaw
Gary Simpson
Richard Simpson
Richard Singer
Arthur Singleton
Lonnie Smith
Lee Snively
Mary Sorensen
Jacob Sowell
Shaun Speer
Rick Springer
Kimberly Stebritz
David Stradley
William Thomas
William Thompson
Jim Torres
Robert Joe Trimble
Berkley Turner
Michael Tuttle
Tomasitto Ulloa, Jr.
Raymond Underwood
Manuel Valdez
Daniel Van Raam
Frank Van Wier
Adolph Vigil
Anthony Vigil
Ronald Vigil, Jr.
Timothy Ray Walker
Dennis Warax
Terrance Edward Wardlow
Steven Weideman
Monique Wiley
James Williams
Sidney Williams
Mark Wilson
Rick Wolf
Jan Worldturner
Robert E. Wright
Mark Youel
Richard Young
Christopher Zamudio (a.k.a. Boston)
Damian Zukowski
Missy Mishflanagan stands with her children, Sean and Mimi, during the vigil. Mishflanagan works with homeless veterans at the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.