Death data offer rare look into plight of the destitute

By Timothy Pratt

Monday, Dec. 20, 2004 | 11:05 a.m.

At Friday's memorial service for 41 homeless men and women who died in the Las Vegas Valley this year, it seemed to some that the homeless are better understood and better treated when they're no longer around.

The vigil, an event organized each year since 1997 by a nonprofit organization called Straight from the Streets, is meant to be a commemoration but it is also a source of information about who the homeless are, where they are and what problems they face.

This year, for the first time, information from that 8-year period has been gathered in one place. It shows, among other things, that drug and alcohol abuse, heart disease, homicides and suicides, cars and trains and the cold and heat have been killing the homeless, in that order, for years.

Since 1997, 354 homeless men and women have died, according to the data compiled by Straight from the Streets.

The blue binder of information also indicates that the homeless are increasingly spread out over the valley, as this year's dead were found in ZIP codes from downtown Las Vegas to Henderson.

Yet such detailed information is lacking in a formal census, prompting Linda Lera-Randle El, director of the organization, to say, "We always need to study them more, but it seems clear what is needed to stop homelessness -- affordable housing, a livable wage and services such as addiction treatment."

She also said it "was easier to find a place for the homeless when they die than when they're alive."

This year's number was lower than that of last year -- 41 as compared with 55. But at least seven additional names were mentioned when Lera-Randle El asked the dozens of men and women gathered at St. Timothy's Church in Henderson Friday evening if they wanted to observe the passing of another friend from the streets during the last 12 months.

A look at Lera-Randle El's report of the dead for 2004 -- which is gathered from the Clark County coroner's office -- showed that 12 people had drug and alcohol abuse listed as at least one of the causes of death; eight had heart disease; five were victims of car and train accidents; and four died of exposure to the elements. Three committed suicide.

The same order was seen last year, with one major difference: There were no reported homicides in 2004, while nine were reported last year.

Nine of the 41 listed were 55 or older. Eight had surnames that appeared to be Hispanic, or nearly 20 percent, a number nearly matching the Hispanic population in Clark County, which is estimated at 24.4 percent.

After Friday's vigil, Dennis Garlow bummed a smoke and looked over the list of the dead, which was missing a friend of his, Lionel -- "a good guy ... who would do anything for anybody" -- who had died in the valley this fall.

Garlow, 40, has lived on the streets of the valley on and off for 13 years.

"They never ask a homeless person when he's alive, 'What do you need?' or 'What would get you off the streets?' " he said.

Then he grabbed a new red sleeping bag, still in its plastic wrapper. Sleeping bags and other items were given to each homeless person at the vigil.

"It's good I got this now," he said.

"That way I don't freeze to death."