Every year, for almost 40 years, members of the community have come together for the Homeless Memorial March and Service. This year's event is likely to be even more emotional after the recent fatal shooting at a homeless encampment in Minneapolis.
Rhona Otteson is executive director of the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless and she says homelessness is preventable.
"We have to come together as community members to let our policy makers know that we need to make investments into shelter and homes to address homelessness, and make sure that no one has to sleep out side and we are not losing folks to the elements," explains Otteson.
125 people have died while homeless in Minnesota in 2023, 102 people who were previously homeless, and 25 advocates also passed away. That brings the total to 252. Otteson says the average age of those who died is 29-years old.
"We commemorate the lives of people we lost, sometimes it's a baby, sometimes it's a one of our elders in our community," says Otteson. "But 29-years old is a stark statistic."
Otteson reflected on the recent fatal shooting. Officers were called to the camp, known as Nenookaasi, at 23rd Street and 13th Avenue in the East Phillips neighborhood around 5:15 Tuesday evening. There they found a 45-year old man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds who later died.
Calling it a failure of the system to address the issue , Otteson says the biggest barrier for the working poor is a lack of affordable housing.
The march starts at 5:00 Thursday night at the Plymouth Congregational Church near Franklin Avenue and Nicollet Avenue just south of Downtown Minneapolis. The service will also be livestreamed here.
