In Memory

Honoring those lost we lost in 2025 on this year’s Homeless Day of Remembrance

Street Books nurtures our city’s collective imagination by bringing stories and connection to the streets. We want to reimagine a society that respects dignity, justice, and our shared humanity. For our Winter Campaign this year we’re imagining alongside Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities: a book that questions what a city is, what it’s for. 

Invisible Cities is structured according to eleven themes that capture the many faces of a city. This week we are thinking about the theme of “Cities and Memory” in conjunction with the upcoming Homeless Day of Remembrance. This event happens each year on the solstice, which gives it its other name: “the longest night.” It is an opportunity to come together as a community and grieve our unsheltered friends and neighbors who lost their lives on our streets over the past year. 

The deadly effects of campsite "sweeps" and other anti-homeless policies are well documented: According to a 2019 report published by WRAP, "homeless people are three to four times more likely to die prematurely than their housed counterparts, as a result of the sleep loss, stress, displacement and property loss that sweeps cause." Yet these harmful practices are only increasing in our communities despite efforts to promote more effective and humane alternatives.

In recognition of this year’s Homeless Day of Remembrance, Street Books Librarian Squier Squier prepared a poetic meditation in memory of those we lost in 2025:

“On the Longest Night, we are reflections of the same force, the keepers of transitions. In the darkness of night, death is nameless. We are kept alive through stories; true death is being forgotten. Our pleasures, pains, triumphs, failures and loves are opened and exposed through the work of mourning. Protect the living who walk with death by their side! They are gifted with a second life in remembrance. We grieve and are not just left with ashes or earth. There are realms that others pass without noticing, vast worlds held in silence. Death is not nothingness. Not all ghosts that haunt have a name. We can let go of the past and set intentions for the future to honor the pain. People we love are dead. We share them with death, grief and loss now. We create space to hold them with others, a marker of life and death. They are light enough to take with us like a box of infinity.”

Join us on December 21, 5pm to 7pm at St. André Bessette Catholic Church (also known as the Red Door), 601 W Burnside St for a community memorial event. 

How do we honor the memory of the ones we’ve lost? At Street Books we believe everyone deserves access to good books, meaningful connection, and basic resources that all humans need to thrive. But the reality is that many of our friends and neighbors are struggling to make it through each day without adequate support, and many lives are lost due to the injustice of houselessness every year. 

You can help us honor their memory through outreach and advocacy that aims to address the suffering and loss of houselessness by supporting our winter fundraising campaign today. Donate to Street Books in Give!Guide and help sustain our work all year long by clicking the button below!

Partner Appreciation:

Bold Work Collaborative

When you are a not-for-profit organization, sometimes the best, most uplifting thing can be when a local, rad skilled business person says “I love Street Books and I want to support you with what I do.” That is how it happened two years ago with Audrey Alverson with Bold Work Collaborative - and the rest is history. Audrey not only offers keen and gentle insight and guidance, but she also helps us create tools to support sharing our message of hope and community across Portland (and further!). She is the best to work with and we are really grateful!  Here's what Audrey says about Street Books. We hope you get to meet her sometime."My love and respect for Street Books is not just rooted in their "why" but also in their "how." The way they genuinely center the dignity and humanity of every individual they serve is what really stands out to me, and why they're one of my favorite local organizations to support."

Check out Bold Work Collaborative online and learn more about how they help organizations create impact and build resilience!