Nineteen lives lost are honored

Some 19 people who died on Chico streets or in shelters in 2025 were honored Dec. 21 at the city’s fifth Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day event.

On a rainy, windy, winter solstice afternoon, about 20 people gathered at the Our Hands sculpture to honor the Chico-area residents who have died – often in public spaces — and appear to have all been unhoused.

The event was organized by Chico CA Shelter for All and the North State Shelter Team.

Dec. 21 — the day with the longest night of the year — is recognized nationwide as Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. The first Annual Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day was commemorated in 1990, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless, to remember people who died while living without shelter.

Neither the Chico Police Department nor the Butte County Coroner’s Division track and publicly release annual data on deaths among unhoused people, noted Mary Kay Benson, who has voluntarily tracked these deaths since 2020.

“I think it’s something that we can ask, and if anybody wants to take that kind of action along with us, that would be great,” said Benson, founder of the homeless advocacy Facebook page Chico CA Shelter for All.

Led by Benson, attendees, holding electric candles in their hands, their voices at times drowned out by strong winds and pouring rain, read aloud the names of those who had died. Two of the deceased on the list compiled by Benson were unnamed.

After the reading, some participants shared what they knew about the deceased. Grace Aita, a Chico resident, said two people who died on Chico streets were her friends. She didn’t know their last names.

“They were wonderful gentlemen who were always good to me and good to other people, and it’s like a family out here,” Aita said. “They have a lot of love to give.”

Aita, who was at one time herself unhoused, told ChicoSol that she met Elijah when they both lived at the plaza and were “good buddies.” She now lives in her own apartment because she accessed resources, including disability, the Housing Choice Voucher Program and part-time work. But not everyone is as fortunate, including Elijah, who died in June this year.

“He was a good person, and under different circumstances, he would have a good life. But he struggled so much,” Aita said.

Charles Withuhn, president of the North State Shelter Team, called for more non-congregate, well-managed shelter programs in Chico. He has advocated for a tiny home project that could house four elderly women on a church parking lot. The search for a participating church is still ongoing, he said.

Yucheng Tang reports for ChicoSol.