‘A powerful and moving experience’

WILKES-BARRE — Dozens of candles lit up the garden outside of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church on Thursday night for Luzerne County’s annual Homeless Persons’ Memorial.

Held each Dec. 21 — the longest night of the year — since 2001, the event honors members of the local homeless community who have been lost over the years.

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, on a single night in 2023, more than 653,100 people were experiencing homelessness in the United States, which more than doubles the amount reported in 2021.

David Pedri, Esq., president and CEO of The Luzerne Foundation, gave a speech during the memorial in which he urged those in attendance to recognize that homelessness is deeper than simply not having a place to go.

“Home — what does that mean? Of course it means four walls, the windows, the door… but there’s something else with that word other than the actual physical being of it. It’s a feeling, it’s running into the house after school, it’s going to see my family when I was sick, it’s the place that I wanted to get out of when I was 18, and it’s the place that I wanted to come back to when I was 24,” Pedri said.

“The lack of that four-wall structure for our homeless in NEPA is one thing, but that feeling is even worse — that feeling that we’re not wanted, that feeling that we’re nobody,” he added.

On Thursday, nearly 200 names of deceased homeless in Luzerne County were read aloud by those in attendance. Although “somber and beautiful,” Father Timothy Alleman says the event is needed to bring attention to the reality that our neighbors face.

“There are too many folks around us who turn a blind eye to those who are living lives that most of us cannot imagine — who go without the basic things that we all too often take for granted. On this longest night of the year, it is a good thing for us to be mindful of the fact that there are homeless people in our community — to remember not only what they face tonight, but every night,” Alleman said.

According to him, each year the event proves to evoke an emotional response from those in attendance.

“It’s a really powerful and moving experience. There’s always at least one person that I see in tears. It’s emotional and it should be. If that doesn’t touch your soul, what emotion do you have?”

This year’s memorial was especially moving for Volunteers of America Program Director Clifton Hall, who experiences the effects of homelessness firsthand through Ruth’s Place, the organization’s women’s homeless shelter in Wilkes-Barre.

Although Hall was just starting at Volunteers of America during last year’s memorial, this year he personally knew some of the names read aloud.

“When there’s a connection, it hits you more and causes you to do more reflection. It absolutely feels different when you can put a face to a name,” he said.

According to Hall, the Wilkes-Barre area is facing a homelessness crisis that is often diminished due to a lack of visibility.

“The scale of the problem isn’t always seen because we do have rural areas near us, but the crisis is still there,” Hall said.

“I just hope that people can be more knowledgeable about the fact that there is a homeless crisis and what you see isn’t indicative of the real problem.”

Those in need of emergency shelter can contact the following resources available in Luzerne County:

• Mother Theresa’s Haven 570-825-9948

• Ruth’s Place 570-822-6817

• Domestic Violence Service Center 570-823-7312

• Divine Providence 570-599-4337

• Keystone Mission 570-871–4795