Candlelight vigil remembers homeless who have died in SLO: ‘They’re so easily forgotten’
During a candlelight vigil Sunday evening at Mitchell Park, San Luis Obispo community members honored the unhoused people who have died over the past year.
The event came one week after Kevin Dobarer, a homeless man who lived in Mitchell Park, was found dead Sunday morning by a passerby. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.
About 50 people attended the vigil, which began at 5 p.m. and lasted about an hour.
Organizers said that Dobarer’s death “hit hard.”
“Someone died on the street in San Luis Obispo, which is supposed to be the happiest city in the country,” said Michelle Mansker of SLO Street Medics, a group of local volunteers who help the unhoused if they need supplies or medical attention.
“A person lost their life here, unhoused, during the time that officers and the City Council had been coming through and telling folks that they can’t have tents,” Mansker continued. “And we’re in the middle of a pandemic. So, yeah, we need some more compassion.”
San Luis Obispo Parks and Recreation Director Greg Avakian said that the city will soon enforce a ban on tents in local parks, citing a city code about encroachment. Avakian said there are safety concerns when the unhoused pitch tents in parks such as Mitchell Park.
But Mansker and other community members said the recent increase in tents in places like Mitchell Park is due to city officials conducting massive cleanup efforts of an encampment along the Bob Jones City to the Sea Bike Trail in San Luis Obispo.
“There’s really a lack of services,” said Carley Creath, a volunteer for Hope’s Village of SLO. “The city should at least give them a safe place to sleep.”
There are places such as 40 Prado Homeless Services Center, but Creath said they have “strict rules” and that during COVID-19, “a lot of people just don’t feel safe going there.”
At the candlelight vigil, Creath read out the names of the 12 known homeless people who had died in the county since March 2020. Of those, at least one had died of COVID-19, according to Creath.
Other causes of death included cancer, anaphylactic shock, unknown sicknesses and getting hit by cars, Creath said.
The candlelight vigil was largely focused on the recent death of Dobarer.
Dobarer worked at Meals That Connect — an organization that serves 600 to 800 free, nutritious meals daily to San Luis Obispo County residents — as a dishwasher for the past three years.
Wendy Fertschneider, who works with Meals That Connect, said that Dobarer was “sweet” and “helpful.”
“Kevin made what we do possible, the kitchen doesn’t work without a dishwasher,” she said. “And it’s sad that someone can work so hard and still not make enough to pay rent around here.”
Community members laid out LEGO figurines on a table with 13 candles — one for each known homeless death, and one for those that go unnoticed or unannounced — because Dobarer loved LEGOs, according to those who knew him.
Advocates such as Mansker hope the vigil will honor Dobarer’s life and bring needed attention to the other deaths of the locally unhoused.
“They’re so easily forgotten, and people act with such a lack of compassion,” she said. “I was unhoused at one point; this could have been me.”
Here is the list of known unhoused people — identified by their first names — who have died in San Luis Obispo County over the last year, according to Creath:
- Karlina — died in March of cancer
- Mississippi — died in April from a fatal fall
- Joe — died in June of cancer
- Christine — died in 2020 from a drug overdose
- Jessica — died in 2020 from anaphylactic shock
- Lance — died in August from unknown causes
- Marty — died in May from an unknown illness
- Bongo Ray — died in October from unknown causes
- John — died in October after attempting to cross Highway 101 at night
- Alycia — died in December after attempting to cross Highway 101 at night
- James — died in January from COVID-19
- Kevin — died in February from unknown causes
This story was originally published March 1, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
