Leaves of Remembrance

A homeless-led, community-building movement nurturing
connections among people—homeless and housed, living and dead.

Leaf Dedication at Ballard Library September 22

NEW: Story Map!

Women in Black List of the Dead 2023

You Can Help

Photo by Ion Gardescu

Since 2003, the Homeless Remembrance Project — a collaborative effort of homeless women, faith community leaders, designers, artists, social service providers and other friends—has worked to create places of hope, healing, and beauty to honor and remember homeless people who’ve died in King County. Our concept is twofold: a beautiful, bronze “Tree of Life” sculpture and gathering place at Victor Steinbrueck Park (north of Pike Place Market), and “Leaves of Remembrance,” embedded in Right of Way locations throughout the City.

Leaves of Remembrance bear names of homeless women and men who’ve died, so that every person will have a place to be remembered. 

The Tree of Life sculpture and community gathering place, pictured to the left, is companion to the Leaves, and has been planted and dedicated in Victor Steinbrueck Park, north of Pike Place Market! Its beautiful Tree elements have Leaf cutouts, representing those who’ve been lost.

The Homeless Remembrance Project grew out of the Women in Black vigils. Women in Black silently stand vigil, dressed in black, to honor the lives of homeless individuals who have died outside or by violence while living in Seattle. In doing so, we draw attention to the crisis facing so many in our community, and create a physical space of remembrance, where homeless and housed people can come together to recognize those lost. The Leaves and the Tree represent the more public and permanent sites of gathering and remembrance to honor all those who have experienced homelessness and died in Seattle.

It’s important to us to be able to connect personal memories with the bronze Leaves to tell the stories of the people remembered. We know it’s important to the grieving to have their stories heard. We want to create sites all over Seattle of beauty, hope and healing. We’ve found that the process of creation and story-sharing is healing.

On this site you can read these stories and learn more about each of the people remembered. You can see a list of all names or find the list of names at a particular site. You can also learn more about the history of the Homeless Remembrance Project, who we are, and how you can help. You can request a leaf for a loved one you’ve lost who was homeless in Seattle at any time, or contact us for any further information.

Check out our Announcements for upcoming installations, Dedications for photographs of recent installations, and In the News for what others say about us. And please visit our Project website to learn more about us, and the Tree of Life.

Thank you!