Remembering Homeless that Died

Robbyn Mitchell | Tampa Bay Times | [Full Article]

TAMPA - A name was said. Then a candle was lit.

At the end, 61 candles had been lit in memoriam for the people without homes who died in Hillsborough County in 2011....

Some 100 people prayed, listened and remembered those who may have been forgotten by everyone else.

Elizabeth Ann Kain, 30, was among the names called - one of five Salvation Army residents to die in 2011. She was found naked and stabbed to death in a check-cashing store parking lot Dec. 15.

"This service brings closure to the clients," said Maggie Rogers, 36, a program director at Tampa's Salvation Army.

The Homeless Coalition said the average age of death was 55. Only six of those who passed away this year were women.

Speakers at the memorial urged the crowd to take action.

"Each time a person dies homeless on our streets, a part of our humanity dies with them," said Hassan Shibly, executive director of Tampa's Council on American Islamic Relations...