Jennifer Gale perenial candidate for many of Austin's local elected offices and homeless who was discovered dead this past Wednesday morning outside of a local University area church will be memorialized Sunday morning at 11:00 AM on Lady Bird Lake in front of the Homeless Memorial Tree. The Homeless Memorial is located on the south side of Lady Bird Lake near the intersection of Riverside Drive and South First street between the Gazebo and the Stevie Ray Vaughan statue. Alan Graham of Mobile Loaves & Fishes will be facilitating the event and we will have food and beverages to share after the service. Valerie Romness, longtime voice and advocate for the homeless, will MC the event.
Organized by Richard Troxell founder of House the Homeless the Homeless Memorial is in its 16th year. Annually (typically in November) many people gather to remember the lives lost on the streets of Austin over the previous year. This year we remembered over 130 people who lost their lives on the streets.
As we remember Jennifer and her advocacy for many causes Richard wants to highlight two particular issues; one, the annual thermal underwear drive that is underway to provide warmth to those that find themselves with no other alternative than living on the streets and two, to let people know about Mobile Loaves & Fishes' Habitat on Wheels project (www.mlfnow.org/how) that for over four years now has been lifting up the chronically homeless off of the streets of Austin into gently used recreational vehicles. On the morning that Jennifer passed away on the streets over 40 formerly homeless people were resting warmly and securely in their RV's.
Join us if you can but regardless please remember the life and soul of Jennifer Gale who through her death has ignited the compassion of this great city we call Austin.
-Alan
I attended the memorial service this morning but left only after an hour mainly because it was cheapened by the political "heckling" occuring by those who werent there to remember Jennifer but by those who wished to use her remembrance as a political forum. There is a time for everything and this was designed to be a time for remembering a stand-up person in a dignified manner, not to blurt out anti Light-Rail camshots and to embarass anyone.
As for the homeless problem a SOLUTION must be agreed upon and instituted by those in a position to do so. Ignorance of this condition will eventually lead to something catastrophic in nature that none of us are able to predict at this time. 136 dead homeless people in Austin over a year's time is unacceptable. Austin is a city of solutions, not one of failure, so it's time to act.
My idea? Attract ALL of the homeless nationwide here to Austin somehow. A few hundred thousand or even a million homeless citizens in one city cannot all be locked up or swept under the rug by society or the system. The government: local, state, and federal, will be forced to assist these people and find a solution to their plight. "Justinomics" will be overcome by the sheer magnitude of the homeless right at its feet. The "Mecca-nization" of Austin may be chaotic at first, but in the long run would be a major boon not only to the homeless, but to Austin as a whole. Just think about it.
Thank you Jennifer Gale for your dedication and hard work.
Mario Gambino
[email protected]
[email protected]
Posted by: Mario Gambino | December 21, 2008 at 07:45 PM
Mario, you are right about the service. But we have to remember that many of the people who voiced their concern politically were directing their anger at the politics that has an unwritten policy of keeping people homeless. There were many poignant moments of remembrance expressed by a number of people and that felt great. Now it is time to work on the political process. God bless you and thanks for taking the time to comment on our blog. -Alan
Posted by: Mobile Loaves & Fishes | December 21, 2008 at 08:00 PM