Key West to Hold Memorial for Residents Who Died Homeless

Community members, advocates, service providers, and loved ones will gather at 3 PM on Friday, December 19 to mark Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day at the Florida Keys Outreach Coalition vault in the Key West Cemetery. Held each December to coincide with the winter solstice, the annual observance will include the reading of the names of those who died in Monroe County while without stable housing in 2025. The ceremony is intended to honor lives lost and to highlight ongoing challenges around housing access and health services in the Keys.

Organizers say the memorial is both a moment of collective reflection and a public prompt to renew efforts to prevent and end homelessness. “As a community, we hold space each year to honor our neighbors who struggled without the protection of a home,” said Carolyn Woodhead of FKOC slash AH Monroe Housing and Supportive Services. “Their lives mattered deeply. This memorial reminds us that every person deserves safety, dignity, compassionate care, and a place to call home.” The event will take place at the FKOC vault, with attendees asked to enter at the Main Gate near the Sexton’s office where ushers will provide guidance. If weather forces an alternate location the service will move to Peace Covenant Presbyterian Church at 2610 Flagler Avenue.

For residents of Monroe County the memorial underscores a local policy challenge that connects housing, health care, and safety nets. In the short term the service gives friends and family a formal space to grieve. In the longer term it spotlights the need for coordinated responses among nonprofit providers, public agencies, and community donors to expand shelter capacity, health outreach, and supportive housing options across the Keys.

Local agencies are encouraging residents to attend in remembrance and solidarity and to recommit to community strategies that reduce precarity for people at risk of homelessness. For more information contact Carolyn Woodhead or visit fkoc.org. The ceremony’s timing on the longest night of the year is intended to renew community resolve to address the conditions that leave people exposed and vulnerable.