Memorial service is dedicated to homeless

Homeless service providers and the people they serve gathered outside the Glendale National Guard Armory on Friday to commemorate the lives of six people who died in 2012 after spending years living on the streets in Glendale.

One, who lived for 17 years in the hillsides, died from cancer in September, five months after Ascencia — Glendale’s largest homeless services provider — placed him in permanent housing. Another, who struggled with alcoholism, died while sleeping next to his father in a local park.

Natalie Profant Komuro, Ascencia’s executive director, said paying tribute to the homeless and destitute on the longest night of the year is a reminder “that we still have work to do.”

-- Brittany Levine, Times Community

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