“Columbus experiences extreme cold and heat in the winter and summer months, so unhoused people oftentimes die from the weather,” the Rev. Jed Dearing, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church on Columbus’ Capitol Square, told Episcopal News Service.
“There are addiction-related deaths from substance abuse, yes, but also mental health problems unrelated to substance abuse that go untreated when you are unhoused. Many unhoused people also die from violence or lack of access to medical care and not getting the medications they need.”
Trinity, in partnership with the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless, will honor those 168 people Dec. 18 by hosting an interfaith memorial service for the 22nd year. Dearing will give the opening remarks.
The annual memorial service features a keynote speech instead of a traditional sermon. Franklin County Coroner Nathaniel Overmire will be this year’s keynote speaker.
During the livestreamed service, each name will be read aloud, followed by the ringing of a bell. Coalition members will light and give attendees candles that will burn down completely during the service. A volunteer choir will sing hymns of sorrow and hope. Steve Skovensky, chief program effectiveness officer of the Community Shelter Board, will read a poem.
“It’s an opportunity to bring some humanity to the realities of homelessness in our community,” Ben Sears, executive director of the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless, told ENS.
Dearing said the service normally takes place on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, to symbolically acknowledge the “darkness” many people feel when they are unhoused or when they lose their loved ones to homelessness. Trinity is holding the service a few days early this year, however, because winter solstice falls on a Sunday, which conflicts with regular worship services.
Every January, the Columbus-based nonprofit Community Shelter Board, which helps Central Ohio residents secure safe, affordable housing, publishes a “point-in-time” count of how many people locally are experiencing homelessness. This year’s report revealed that 2,556 people were unhoused, up 7.4% from the 2024 count of 2,380 people.
The number of people who die annually while experiencing homelessness also keeps growing. Last year, 112 people died.
Homelessness is projected to increase by nearly 70% in the next five years, according to the latest data reports. Rising costs of living, a lack of affordable housing, stagnant wages and other systemic issues are driving the homelessness crisis.
Year-round, Trinity serves unhoused people through its weekly “needs” pantry, offering outerwear, tents, tarps, sleeping bags, can openers and other items needed to live outside. At the church’s “In the Garden” community lunch program, volunteers make and serve homemade hot meals every Sunday afternoon. In August, sack lunches are served.
“This has been our biggest year ever for ‘In the Garden.’ The need for this ministry keeps growing as the unhoused population keeps growing,” Dearing said.
Trinity also offers a limited financial assistance program to anyone experiencing homelessness or an emergency eviction. Narcan – the nasal spray version of the drug naloxone, which can quickly reverse an opioid overdose when immediately administered – is available throughout Trinity’s building.
Because Trinity, which has about 300 members, is located downtown, the church has “an advantage” of being able to work directly with city officials, nonprofits addressing homelessness and other churches. Parishioners, many of whom are unhoused themselves, also are active with advocacy work beyond the church’s ministries.
Because unhoused people often can’t afford end-of-life planning, Trinity designates 10% of its columbarium to people who died experiencing homelessness. They are given a marker paid for by the church, and their interment looks the same as everyone else.
Most recently, Dearing said, Trinity laid to rest the cremated remains of a 4-year-old boy who was murdered by his father’s girlfriend while unhoused.
“It’s heavy. …No one wants to be homeless,” Dearing said.
Sears said he hopes the memorial service will “energize” attendees to continue advocacy work addressing homelessness year-round.
“Too many of us take for granted how much having shelter – any shelter – makes an enormous impact in people’s lives,” he said. “Having shelter helps ensure that kids stay in school and families stay together. It also, literally, can save lives.”