Work begins on vigil to honor homeless who died in last year

Organizers are gearing up for the 11th annual candlelight vigil to honor the homeless men and women who died in Stanislaus County in the last year.

They need donations of scarves, gloves, hats and socks and $5 gift cards for fast food, such as a card to McDonald’s or Subway. Organizers also need more volunteers to help plan the vigil and put it on.

The vigil is scheduled for Dec. 21 – the first day of winter – and is part of the National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, in which communities across the United States remember the homeless who have died. In pas5t years, rhe vigil has been held at The Salvation Army’s Berberian Homeless Shelter and Transitional Living Center at Ninth and D streets, near downtown Modesto, and will be held there this year or at a nearby location.

The vigil is scheduled to start at 7:15 p.m., but there is an earlier event from 2:30 to 5 p.m. that ncludes handing out the donated clothing and gift cards to the homeless along with fellowship.

The vigil honors those who lived on society’s margins. Last year’s vigil remembered 26 homeless men and women, including Rick Hernstedt, a 54-year-old transient who died in September 2015 after being hit by a car in Modesto. His family said he had been homeless for at least 11 years.

“It’s a long story and a sad story,” a family member who asked not to be identified said last year. She said Hernstedt struggled with mental illness and substance abuse. He was fine when he was on his medications; the problem was staying on them. “When they go off, what they need so desperately to keep them in balance, there is no coping,” she said. “It’s very sad.”

The Salvation Army, Stanislaus County’s Behavioral Health and Recovery Services and Golden Vallley Health Centers are sponsoring the vigil, as they have done in past years.

This story was originally published November 16, 2016 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Work begins on vigil to honor homeless who died in last year."