ORLANDO, Fla. — People gathered in downtown Orlando on Wednesday to remember those who’ve died in the last year while either homeless, or still working at finding a permanent home.

What You Need To Know

  • People gathered in downtown Orlando on Wednesday to remember those who’ve died in the last year while homeless

  • During the service in Heritage Square Park in downtown Orlando, people remembered 130 people who died in Orange, Osceola or Seminole County while either homeless, or still working at finding a permanent home

  • The 130 who died in 2024 is actually less than 2023, when 160 homeless people died

Each of the 130 people’s names were read aloud, along with bell ringing, to mark their lives cut short thanks to a problem that persists throughout Central Florida.

“Today we grieve together, we grieve for lives cut short, their potential unfulfilled,” said Eric Camarillo, the Executive Director of S.A.L.T. Outreach.

Joel Miller works with the Healthcare Center for the Homeless to connect people with services. He says he found out just before the memorial service that someone he hadn’t seen in a while had died. He shared stories about him and several other homeless people he knew that died in 2024.

“It’s more personal for the folks who meet the people on the street and walk them through everything until they die,” said Miller. “So it’s almost like a friend who’s dying because the amount of time we spend with them and we get to know them.”

While some remembered were sleeping on the streets, others may have passed while in temporary housing. Miller worries the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to allow punishment for camping on streets, as well as state and local anti-camping ordinances, will only set his and others' efforts back.

“The Supreme Court decision shines a light on our lack of housing, and for most of these folks the only way they’re going to get off the street is getting into their own home,” said Miller.

A spokesperson for the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida says their organization worries a new federal administration in January brings uncertainty about the future of funding for housing, something Miller says the area simply needs more of.

“A lot of these folks aren’t going to be able to work again, and unless we can get them into the shelter and into permanent housing they’re going to go into the shelter for a finite period and then come back to the streets,” said Miller.

The 130 who died in 2024 is actually less than 2023, when 160 homeless people died.

That decrease is something people at the service say is encouraging, but they worry if the number of affordable homes and help to get into them isn’t increased, the problem could get worse.