Each year homeless advocates in San Jose remember the hundreds of people who die while living on the streets there. Today also marks two years since two unhoused people were stabbed to death while sheltering in a San Jose church.
remember the hundreds of people who die while living on the streets there. Today also marks two years since two unhoused people were stabbed to death while sheltering in a San Jose church.
For the last five years, the Unhoused Response Group or URG, has held a ceremony displaying these Styrofoam tombstones for the approximate 250 people who die each year on the streets of San Jose. Shaunn Cartwright founded URG and says the ceremony honors the lives of people often forgotten about and is a stark reminder to local leaders of the housing crisis. She says the stabbing deaths of Kimberly Fial and John Paulson at Grace Baptist Church in 2020 are symptomatic of a bigger problem.
Fernando Jesus Lopez, who was also unhoused and staying at Grace Baptist Church that night, was charged with two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder for stabbing three other people. Just weeks before the stabbings, Lopez spoke to KTVU about finding shelter on a cold night. "It's warm, cozy, they provide everything such as showers, hygiene, food, a warm bed and blanket, and it's a blessing to have this spot," Lopez said in 2020.
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