HUDSON COUNTY — On a warm evening this past July, dozens of people gathered at the 9/11 Memorial Fountain in Journal Square to remember Americo, Eric, and Yvonne, three homeless people who lived and died near Jersey City’s busiest transit hub.
Their deaths – due to both accidental and natural causes – were stunning, even for a population of people who often die before their time. Not only did they pass during the warmest season of the year, but they all died within two weeks of one another.
One of the deceased was said to have tumbled off a platform onto the concrete below when he was falling asleep.
In 2009, the Hudson County Alliance to End Homelessness counted 1,779 homeless people living on the streets.
In order to recognize the lives of those who died while homeless, the Jersey City Episcopal Community Development Corporation will host its second annual interfaith homeless memorial on Wednesday, Dec. 21 inside the Church of the Incarnation at 1 p.m.
Read more in last week’s Midweek Reporter.