Residents gathered at the Glen Huntington Bandshell in downtown Boulder on Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 16, to mourn the people who died this year after experiencing homelessness in Boulder County.
The memorial for National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day takes place every year around the winter solstice, the longest night of the year. This year, more than 100 people attended, including members of the homeless and nonprofit communities, as well as several Boulder City Councilmembers. Attendees played music, said prayers and shared stories of those who had died.
Fifty-one people died in 2025 while homeless or after experiencing homelessness. That’s slightly more than last year but roughly consistent with recent years.
Jennifer Hein, who works with the nonprofit Focus Reentry and was formerly homeless, called on people to “be the guiding light that you would want if you were in their shoes, walking these streets, cold, hungry, with no one to care about them or love them.”
Hein also remembered a friend who was homeless when she was.
“I had the honor of holding space for Tristan Burkhead while he transitioned to the afterlife,” she said. “I asked him what it felt like, and he said, and I quote, ‘The place where I’m going feels at home. It feels warm, safe and welcoming.’”
Another attendee remembered Dan Makin, “one of my favorite people that I’ve ever met on the street.”
“We spent a lot of time together, and he was just a real sweet guy,” he said. “Five years ago, we heard that he died, and so we had a memorial service for him by the creek at the library. Then about two or three weeks later, we saw him come back again, and we were very happy. So for the rest of his life, we called him ‘Half Dead Dan.’”
Another attendee remembered Raphael Malcolm Mijares, who died just a few weeks ago. “He changed my life. I was in a very difficult situation, and he helped me through it,” she said through tears. “He had this smile — the best laugh that was contagious.”
“He lived here in Boulder, and I was in Aurora, and one day he came all the way by bus for five hours just to see me for 15 minutes,” she added. “I loved him very much.”
Forty-nine framed names of those who died this year were arranged on the Bandshell stage. Two more were read during the memorial.
Some speakers used the gathering to voice concerns about a loss of homelessness resources in the community. One person mentioned The Source, Boulder’s only homeless shelter for young people, which closed this year amid funding challenges. Additionally, All Roads, the city’s largest homeless shelter, lost about a third of its grant funding this year following county budget cuts.
“When I first got here it was awesome, you could get help anywhere in this town,” a formerly homeless attendee said. “Now there’s no help, and that’s just killing us.”
“I used to be on the streets, I might even be on the streets by next week,” he added. “I’ll come back to Boulder, because I know there’s people who care. I’d like to see more people care.”
As of a count conducted last January, 693 people were experiencing homelessness in Boulder County, and 27% were unsheltered. That total is lower than in 2024, but remains higher than recent years.
Thank you for capturing the humanity of those remembered so well.
Thank you for this article.
A suggestion I have is that in addition to this end of year memorial service that there be possibly a once a month or quarterly memorial page compiled by Bridge House, Haven Ridge and/or All Roads that has a photograph of the deceased with more detail about the persons’ life that honors the “May Their Memory Be A Blessing” theme of the yearly service. I am not suggesting that the deceased privacy be violated or their death be made into a political point. At one time BRL was hosting obituaries but maybe what I am suggesting could be a page better hosted by Bridge House or All Roads as offering insights into the humanity of the people they serve would help more people appreciate their efforts.
Here is an example from the list in the article:
https://www.siouxfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Willie-Joseph-Plenty-Wolf?obId=42618701
Yes, we’ve talked about this and discussed coordinating with some of the organizations you mentioned on an obituary project to memorialize the people our community honors each year. Hopefully we can revisit this for 2026, so we don’t have another year in which dozens of people who deserve obituaries go without them.
It is very sad that previous administration (Biden, Harris) wasted billions of taxpayers money on illegals , while our citizens are homeless and dying on the streets . Shame on them and shame on everyone who voted for them . Illegals were living in hotels, got free healthcare, free food , money etc . In the meantime many of our veterans are homeless.
I’m saddened to hear of the passing of these homeless people. This hits home for me, my brother lived homeless on the streets of Los Angeles on Skid row and I got him to come live with us while in Wisconsin and again now living in Colorado. I challenge each and every person in Boulder to open the doors of their homes and literally take in the homeless! Don’t just remember them, welcome them into your homes! Our rehabilitation system is broken and helping our homeless is broken. Instead of decommissioning naval ships to a boneyard in WA, rehab those ships that have living quarters and mess halls for our homeless veterans. Old military bases, open them back up, rehab the housing along side the veterans and let them experience home ownership.