This Sunday, Dec. 21, is the winter solstice and it will be both the shortest day and the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s the date every year that the Longest Night Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service uses as an opportunity to remember, honor, celebrate and mourn the passing of those homeless people in the greater Madison community who have died, many of whom would have no funeral or obituary otherwise.
This year’s Longest Night Homeless Persons’ Memorial will take place on the Capitol Square in downtown Madison at a place near the bench where 38-year-old Dwayne Warren’s body was found on June 16th, 2009. Warren was experiencing homelessness and died of sepsis, a blood infection that could have been treated with a simple antibiotic prescription. His death was the impetus behind bringing the community together to create this annual event
Linda Ketcham, the longtime executive director of Just Dane (formerly Madison-area Urban Ministry), who helps to host the annual memorial service, tells Madison365 that this is the 17th year hosting the event…