On Saturday night, residents and staff members of the Kearney Center gathered in the backyard of the homeless shelter.
It was almost freezing – one of Tallahassee’s coldest nights so far this year.
The heavy sounds of traffic from Pensacola Street were absent, and you could hear the flick of the lighter as a staff member lit six white sky lanterns to remember those the Kearney Center lost in 2024.
“Most people when they die, we’re going to have a wake, and we’re going to have our loved ones around us, and they’re going to say goodbye,” said Vicki Butler, the director of operations.
“Sadly for most of the people who go through here, this is all they’re going to ever have. There’s not going to be a wake, there’s not going to be those traditions. That’s what makes this memorial so important. Everyone deserves something to mark the end,” she said.
The memorial ceremony was part of The Longest Table, a community dinner hosted by the center to “build a better understanding of who we are and what the community needs from us.”