On the longest night of the year, residents and service providers gathered at a Clackamas County vigil to remember 33 people who died while unhoused and to call attention to the human cost of the local housing crisis.

"Tonight is the longest night of the year," said Lynn Dressler, who gave an invocation urging attendees to hold the names of those lost "not as statistics, not as problems to be solved, but as human beings worthy of dignity and worthy of remembrance." The program invited attendees to light candles and place roses as names were read aloud.

The event combined communal ritual with personal testimony and service-provider remarks. Lisa Walters, who described herself as having lived experience of homelessness and addiction and who now works at Father's Heart, recounted years of substance use, an assault in 2023 that left her severely injured and a path through courts and transitional housing to steady employment. "I will never forget that morning... he proceeded to crush my skull in with a cement block," Walters said, describing the assault she survived and the subsequent care gaps. She later said she completed a court-affiliated program, regained family contact and accepted a role at Father's Heart as assistant lead in a stabilization unit.

County staff framed individual stories as evidence of system-level failures and the value of long-term supports. Christina McNeese, who identified herself as a Clackamas County staff member, told the story of Randy Stratton, who entered the Hope supportive housing program at about age 46 after long-term homelessness and struggles with addiction and untreated mental health needs. McNeese said Stratton accessed health care, developmental services and case management and "maintained housing until he passed away this year," arguing that consistent, housing-first supports made stability possible even as systems had previously failed him.

Program and event organizers explicitly tied remembrance to a call for continued work on homelessness. Event emcee John Duke, identifying himself with the Homeless Solutions Coalition of Clackamas County and thanking the county for tents, space and sound, said, "These are our people. This is our event." Organizers read names of the 33 people being remembered — described in remarks as ranging in age from about 20 to 91 — and invited others in the audience to name people they wished to include.

The vigil had no formal policy actions attached; it was a memorial and a public moment to center lived experience and service-provider perspectives. The candle-lighting concluded with music, taps and the retiring of colors by the veterans' post that participated in the ceremony.

Speakers and attendees framed the event as both mourning and a prompt for action: speakers who described individual harms and recovery urged continued investment in permanent supportive housing, outreach and case management as ways to reduce future deaths among people without shelter.

The program closed with leaders thanking Clackamas County for logistical support and the Homeless Solutions Coalition of Clackamas County for co-sponsoring the vigil. The ceremony ended without a vote or formal resolutions; organizers said the remembrance should guide ongoing work in the community.