COEUR d’ALENE — Alyse Staley wants people to understand that the homeless are not all addicts, not all criminals, not all lazy.

“Unexpected tragic life events can affect any of us at any time,” she said Thursday to about 30 people at the National Homeless Persons Memorial Day vigil at the Human Rights Education Institute.

Staley, a social worker, said assumptions are often made about the homeless, of which there are about 2,300 in Idaho and a record 650,000 nationwide, according to the latest homeless count.

Every day, about 20 homeless people die — in tents, in cars, in shelters and on the streets.

“Our people deserve better,” Staley said. “We need to see people as just that, people.

“We’re talking about families, homeless,” she continued. “We’re talking about children, homeless. We’re talking about veterans, homeless.”

Chris Green with Heritage Health told the story of a homeless older man who traveled the country and stayed in shelters or wherever he could find a place to sleep.

The man he called Dennis found his way to Coeur d’Alene. The man had learned to live so long on the streets he never applied for Social Security, Green said.

“He kept telling me over and over again, he was just so tired,” Green said.

The more Green got to know the man, the more he liked him and saw him as good and gentle, without any family.

The man later died of a heart attack, alone.

“I remember when we buried Dennis, there was nobody there,” Green said.

Green said he thinks of the man often and recited one of his favorite sayings, “There but for the grace of God go I."

Pastor Dirk Scott prayed that people would “Come to understand the face of the homeless, that they’re not all terrible people."

Scott said having children and the elderly living on the streets “is unfathomable and should not happen in this country or in this community.”

Staley, born and raised in Coeur d’Alene, shared a story of her brother, George, who was intelligent, loved to read and spend time at the library in his youth. They played together in the snow and shared many happy moments.

Later, George battled addictions and mental illness, was hospitalized, and eventually was homeless before he died.

Staley said she hoped “To educate and create awareness of those awful afflictions that are 100% preventable.”

Larry Riley, St. Vincent de Paul North Idaho executive director, said the reality is that each night people are trying to survive on the cold streets.

Rising rents, with an average of nearly $1,600 a month, have put some on the streets who never expected to be there, and others on the edge of joining them.

“Most people have no idea what goes on in the life of a person crushed with this situation,” he said. 

Riley said they were there Thursday night to remember the homeless who died in the past year, and remember there are many who need help.

"We have a lot of people in bad situations," he said.

Staley said of the homeless: “They are, first, people.”

    Chris Green bows his head in prayer during the National Homeless Persons Memorial Day vigil on Thursday in Coeur d'Alene.