It’s instructive to begin on 7th Avenue and Washington Street in Eugene on any given winter evening.
From that starting point, walk the windy asphalt trail through Washington/Jefferson Park. You see them instantly tarps and tents by the layered dozens, each containing stories of homeless men and women who are holding threads of dignity.
The tarps and tents are properly spaced (a nod to COVID-19), but they are everywhere under the viaducts of the Washington/Jefferson area, or those areas that the city of Eugene has not walled off.
Walk slowly. Absorb it.
Then walk north, over a gentle embankment and past more emergency shelters, and you find young basketball players and younger skateboarders testing their skills. Beyond that, you’ll find a collective of social workers handing out hot chili and clothing donations.
The Jan. 8 candlelight vigil was the second time the advocacy group Stop Death on the Streets held the event. The group mourned the lives of 30 people who died while experiencing homelessness in 2020.
Credit Melorie Begay/KLCC
The advocacy group, Stop Death on the Streets held their 2nd annual vigil in Eugene on Friday Jan. 8. About 100 people came to mourn the lives of homeless people who died in the past year.
Activist Chelsea Swift said in a speech during the vigil that the community hasn’t collectively grieved for people who’ve died in 2020, including those who’ve died from COVID-19.