Anne Arundel County honors 19 homeless people who died this year: ‘I’d like to think that we give a piece of humanity back’

Nineteen homeless people who died in Anne Arundel County this year were honored at a vigil Thursday in Annapolis.

At a ceremony hosted by the Anne Arundel and Annapolis Coalition to End Homelessness on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, the name of each deceased person was read aloud while those who worked with them in their journey to find housing spoke about how they will be remembered.

Niki O’Heirly from Arundel House of Hope, a Glen Burnie-based nonprofit that works with homeless people, talked about Barry Henderson who attended Bates High School, served in the Vietnam War and loved spy novels. He died in January. Henderson spent much of his life sleeping on friends’ sofas, at facilities in the area that doubled as shelters during the winter and in his storage unit on West Street.

“He always had a great attitude,” O’Heirly said. “He always had a smile and a wave for everybody that he saw.”

Henderson achieved stable housing in the last year and a half of his life at the age of 78, which enabled him to start focusing on reconnecting with family and addressing his medical issues. He was soon diagnosed with cancer.

“I’d like to think that we give a piece of humanity back,” O’Heirly said. “I think that’s really the goal. We come together and remember people that died while living outside. That’s really what we all want to do.”

Others who were remembered included Punitha Manavalin, a 45-year-old woman who died in November and loved puzzles; Valentina Main, a devoted and caring mother; and Terrence Vaden, who secured a job at a Glen Burnie plumbing company and started getting his life back on track before he “fell to some of his demons that he had from the past,” said Darren Money with Arundel House of Hope.

Around 50 people gathered in People’s Park in Annapolis and illuminated small flashlights as the 19 names were read. Attendees sipped hot chocolate as they were serenaded by students of the Broadneck APEX Choir singing “Seasons of Love” from the Broadway musical “Rent” to close out the evening.

Without a significant investment in affordable housing for low-income residents, people will continue to die on the streets, said Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman.

“I don’t want anyone to feel despair,” Pittman said. “Please don’t give up.”

While he acknowledged that the fight for affordable housing suffered a setback Monday, when the County Council voted down a bill mandating that developers build more affordable units, he said he was confident legislation of that kind would have a second chance.

“There are enough people who want to get this done that we will still get it done,” Pittman said. “There may be some tweaks to it.”

Though developers fought hard in negotiations with Pittman’s team over the bill, he has faith the benefits of building in Anne Arundel will ultimately outweigh the burden of complying with a law mandating they create affordable units at each large-scale property.

“Developers are lining up to build in this county and if the local ones don’t want to do it, we’ve got developers from Baltimore and Prince George’s and Howard that would be happy to come and build,” Pittman said.

Other than Sarah’s House, Light House, Arundel House of Hope and organizations that partner with the county to provide shelter during the winter, places for homeless people to live in Anne Arundel are limited.

Despite delays, renovations are expected to begin next year on a complex redesigned to be transitional housing for homeless residents. The Doll Furnished Apartments, which was intended to be renovated by June 30, 2023, will offer case management, employment and mental health services to residents. The Housing Commission of Anne Arundel County is working to get the facility’s 16 units on long-term project-based vouchers requiring federal approvals, which has delayed the timeline. The property also has the potential for another 24 units to be built.

“It’s a dent, but it’s a start,” Clifton Martin, the commission’s CEO, said last month.