December 21 - National Homeless Persons' Remembrance Day

 

Happy National Homeless Persons' Remembrance Day! On the first day of winter remembers those in the homeless community who have died the previous year. The day reminds us to honor them and remember the life they lived.  

Homelessness is a year-round concern for many. Winter increases the anxiety associated with finding shelter.  

During the holidays, the media focus their attention on raising awareness and improving opportunities. 

It’s an ideal time to garner a public forum for the issue, and local groups are encouraged to seek out and work with their local media outlets to publicize the event. 

From state to state, the quality and availability of homeless shelters vary. The number of homeless in each state will vary as well.  

However, according to Whitehouse.gov – state of the homeless in America, in 2018, approximately half a million people were homeless in the United States. Of those, almost 200,000 were unsheltered. 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/The-State-of-Homelessness-in-America.pdf 

Many of their families don’t know where they are. When they become sick or injured and they die in an ER or in the street, their families don’t know.  

 
Sometimes, they left for a reason or had nowhere else to go. No matter what their story was, they deserve a ceremony to remember them. 

 
HOW TO OBSERVE 

 
This day encourages any and all local groups across the country to determine the number of homeless persons in their community who died in the previous year. Arrange a ceremony to remember them. 

 
Candlelight marches, vigils, graveside services, plays and performances, religious services, and public policy advocacy are the suggested ways of remembering. Some groups have read publicly a list of names of the deceased.  

 
Use #HomelessPersons’RemembranceDay to post on social media. 

HISTORY 

Since 1990, the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Health Care for the Homeless Council have sponsored National Homeless Persons’ Remembrance Day to bring attention to the plight of the nation’s homelesspopulation and to encourage the public to act on their behalf. 

CONTACTS: 
National Coalition for the Homeless 
2201 P St. N.W. 
Washington, D.C. 20037 
202-462-4822; fax: 202-462-4823 

#HomelessPersons'RecognitionDay  

@NationalCoalitionfortheHomeless

@WhiteHouse 

@nichecinema 

December 21 - Winter Solstice

 

Happy National Winter Solstice! The winter solstice is the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It occurs annually between December 20 and December 23. 

The winter solstice is marked by the point at which the North Pole is at its farthest from the sun during its yearly orbit around the sun. It will be approximately twenty-three degrees away from the sun.  

Despite the temperature outside, the winter solstice is considered the astronomical beginning of winter.  

Meteorological winter begins December 1 and lasts until the end of February. It’s marked by the coldest average temperatures during the year. 

Depending on how far north a person is in the Northern Hemisphere during the winter, their day can range from 9.5 hours to absolutely no sunrise at all.  

On the bright side, the days will gradually become longer in the Northern Hemisphere until the summer solstice in June.  

In the Southern Hemisphere, this same day marks the summer solstice and the Southern Hemisphere’s longest day of the year. 

The vernal equinox and the autumnal equinox conventionally mark the beginning of spring and fall respectively and occur when night and day are approximately equal in length. 

Around the world since ancient times to modern-day, celebrations, festivals, rituals and holidays recognizing the winter solstice have varied from culture to culture. 

HOW TO OBSERVE 

Winter lovers, enjoy the shortest day of the year. Those longing for more sunlight, prepare to celebrate. Longer days are ahead.  

Use #WinterSolstice to post on social media. 

HISTORY 

Since the marking of time and the earliest calendars, this day marked the hardest time of the year for early people.   

Survival was paramount when food and heat were not reliable. In all corners of the Earth, there are ancient remains that seem to have been built around marking the winter solstice.

 

• • Probably the most famous of these is Stonehenge, England. Every year when the sun sets on the winter solstice, the sun’s rays align with two of the giant stones known as the central Altar and the Slaughter stone. 

• • As the sun rises on the day of the winter solstice, its rays illuminate the main chambers of the monument dating back to 3200 B.C. at Newgrange, Ireland. 

• • In Tulum, Mexico, an ancient Mayan city stands deserted. At the top of one of these buildings, a small hole casts a starburst when the sun rises on the winter and summer solstices. 

#WinterSolstice

@GoogleDoodles 

@nichecinema