Housing is a Human Right OC

The Longest Night: National Homeless Persons’ Memorial
2024-12-21 08:00 - 23:30 UTC
“Houselessness Ends Lives!”
Housing is Health Care!
Housing Saves Lives!
National Homeless Persons’ Remembrance Day on the first day of winter remembers those in the homeless community who have died the previous year. The day reminds us to honor them and remember the life they lived.
#HomelessPersonsRemembranceDay

Homelessness is a year-round concern for many. Winter increases the anxiety associated with finding shelter. During the holidays, the media focus their attention on raising awareness and improving opportunities. It’s an ideal time to garner a public forum for the issue, and local groups are encouraged to seek out and work with their local media outlets to publicize the event.

Orange County is a place of great wealth and even greater suffering. In 2023, it is estimated that over 500 persons’ will have died while trying to survive living on the streets of Orange County.
Time to say “YES” to HOUSING and “NO” to HOUSELESSNESS.
Join Housing is a Human Right OC and demand the housing needed to end houselessness and housing insecurity!
Ways to Get Involved:

Host/Sponsor your own memorial to those who died while unsheltered in OC.

Snap a photo of one of the memorials in your community and send to HHROC’s Facebook and/or Twitter at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HHROC and/or Twitter: https://twitter.com/HHROrangeCounty
You can also post on Orange County Board of Supervisors and your city council members Facebook/Twitter pages with a message (example): “These flags represent preventable deaths of unhoused people in our community. I urge you to invest in life-saving housing.
#HousingIsHealthcare #HousingSavesLives

Let’s take action together

Send a message to your city council member and Orange County Board of Supervisors demanding investments in safe, permanent affordable housing!

Together, we can save lives!

Attend one or more of the HHROC educational events offered during November and December as HHROC recognizes the need to end Hunger and Homelessness throughout Orange County.

The FACTS about Orange County

Orange County’s high cost of living threatens the well-being of our communities and the median price of a single-family home is now $1,265,000; the average one bedroom monthly rent in OC is $2515.

Since January 2018, over 3350 infants, children, people with disabilities, older adults, LGBTQ+ people, and other OC community members have died while trying to survive living in unsheltered places throughout OC.

OC has the second-highest poverty rate in California, behind only Los Angeles.

Over 90 percent of extremely low-income renters cannot afford their rent.

Approximately one-third of all OC households lack enough income to meet basic needs.

One-in-four children in OC live in poverty.

Approximately one-third of low-income seniors are food insecure.

The number of chronically unhoused community members living in unsheltered places almost quadrupled from 2015-2019.

Every day approximately 86,000 children in OC don’t have access to enough food and 30 percent of children who are food insecure aren’t eligible for federal nutrition programs.

National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness & Longest Night Memorial
2024-11-17 08:00 - 2024-11-23 23:30
National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness is an annual program where people come together across the country to draw attention to the crisis of hunger and homelessness. Join Housing is a Human Right OC during November and December for a series of educational and advocacy events in Orange County.
Click Here for HHROC Food 4 Thought

Longest Night Memorial is National Homeless Persons’ Remembrance Day (December 21, 2023) where we remember and say the names of those throughout Orange County’s homeless community who have died from December 2022 – November 2023.
Purple Flags displays are set-up at various locations throughout Orange County. The purple flag displays memorialize and represent the over 500 unhoused infants, children, seniors, disabled, and veterans who died over the past 12 months while trying to survive living on the streets throughout Orange County. HHROC encourages you to ask your elected officials to do a better job and #BeHonest about the harsh environmental stressors the most vulnerable face in Orange County, the 7th wealthiest county in the United States. Additionally, the OC Sheriff Coroner’s list of names of our deceased sisters and brothers is sadly incomplete as the list does not provide the names of unhoused people who died while in hospitals, transitional shelters, or whose body was claimed by family. These people deserve to be recognized and remembered as well.
Many Americans live paycheck to paycheck. The struggle to keep the basic needs fulfilled is a daily obstacle. It takes only one misstep – an illness, injury, or temporary job loss – to place many of us on the path to poverty, hunger, even homelessness. In the United States, 43.1 million Americans live below the poverty level. Of those, 1 in 5 are children living in poverty. On any given night, there are between 500,000 – 600,000 people experiencing homelessness in the United States.
Homelessness kills. Affordable housing saves lives:

More than 500 unhoused people…including infants, children, seniors, disabled, and veterans have/will have died while trying to survive living on the streets throughout Orange County.
The OC Board of Supervisors control and sets their priorities for a $1 Billion discretionary budget, but has not committed any of it to affordable housing to help save lives and end homelessness.
If 4 or more of the OC Supervisors vote for it, a bond measure can be placed on an upcoming ballot to raise funds for more very low-income, low-income, and affordable housing and permanent supportive housing.

Did you know?
#TheRentIsTooDamnHigh!
Orange County’s high cost of housing is the main driver of poverty, houselessness, and hunger in our communities:

Orange County is now the 5th most expensive urban area in the United States, largely due to the cost of housing.
The average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment is now $2,113
In September 2023, Orange County home prices rose by 13.7% compared to last year.
Currently, the median price for single family housing is $1.1 Million.
One-in-four children in Orange County live in poverty.
One-third of seniors in Orange County are food insecure.
Chronic homelessness in Orange County almost quadrupled between 2015 – 2019.
Since 2018 over 2148 unhoused people have died while trying to survive living on the streets of Orange County.
The current life expectancy in the United States is 71.1 years of age but the life expectancy for unhoused people is 29 years shorter.

Looking For A Way To Get Involved?
RAISE AWARENESS: Contact us at: info@hhroc.org to host a purple flag display through December. Each purple flag represents neighbors who have died this year while unhoused. OR…host an action or educational event in your community.
EDUCATE: Share this website with your family, friends, and community.
ADVOCATE: Join HHROC at he OC Board of Supervisors meeting on December 19th, where we tell the Supervisors #HousingSavesLives and ask them #WhatsThePlan?

HOW TO OBSERVE #HungerHomelessAwareness

Volunteer. Donate. Organize. All or any of these actions can help make a difference in a life. Spread the word about hunger and homelessness and how to help. Find out who and what your local organizations are. Use #HungerHomelessAwarenessWeek to share on social media.
For more info: https://hhweek.org/
