05 Jan Remembrance of the Unhoused: Community Honors 85 Lives Lost in Contra Costa County

This image of Nick Castro was shown at the Contra Costa County 2025 Homeless Persons’ Memorial Event on Dec. 19 in Antioch as he was honored as one of the 85 people who died in the county while homeless over the last two years.

Story and photos by Emily Molina

Friends, family and advocates gathered to honor the 85 lives lost of unhoused people in the streets of Contra Costa County in the last two years.

Held at the 40 Voices African American Holistic Wellness & Resource Hub in Antioch, the memorial recognized people who died while experiencing homelessness and emphasized health disparities experienced by the unhoused population in Contra Costa.

The event was held Dec. 19 in observance of National Homeless Persons Memorial Day. It was co-hosted by Antioch Seventh Day Adventist Church, Bay Area Rescue Mission, City of Antioch, Contra Costa Council on Homelessness, NAMI Contra Costa, and Safe Organized Spaces Richmond, bringing together a number of previously unhoused people and other residents.  

The names of those who died were read aloud along with personal notes from friends and family, and as each name was said, water was poured into a bowl to symbolize the memory and connection of the deceased.

When Nick Castro’s name was read, deep cries filled the silent room. His younger sister Amber had to step out as a note of appreciation was read in his memory. 

“Nick was there for me through some extremely difficult times and has been my dearest friend for over a decade,” the note said. “The last time I saw him, he hugged me and told me he loved me.”

Castro spent years homeless in Antioch, sleeping in the streets, exposed. He befriended many other unhoused people and was empathetic to their experiences.

 “I cherish everything about him,” Amber said. “He was a hero whenever I spoke to him.”

Amber appreciated the memorial as a way to express her love and grief with others who also lost their loved ones in the streets.

For Marco Marquinez, hearing the names read brought up a lot of emotions and memories of living through the cold nights in the streets of Richmond, often resisting the weather while under the influence. 

“When someone is on drugs, they don’t feel the cold. They can get pneumonia and not even realize it,” he said.

After emigrating from Tijuana at a young age, Marquinez said he faced many personal traumas and separation from his wife and kids, which led him to years of addiction. During the COVID pandemic, he lost his job, which exacerbated his addiction. 

In the years he lived on the streets, he said he knew eight people who died in the streets due to exposure and under the influence. 

But it took Marquinez relapsing 14 times and seeking guidance from faith leaders to stray away from living on the streets and from drugs. 

He received support from SOS Richmond and the Contra Costa chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness to help him get off the streets and back to his family.

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Marquinez attended the memorial in part to continue his sobriety with SOS Richmond and partly as a reminder to keep his goals with his family and away from substance use. 

Now three years sober, Marquinez keeps himself hopeful for his future by working with unhoused advocates and being a dad to his youngest daughter.

“I see now my life differently and life as beautiful,” Marquinez said, “I want to be useful to society and my family.”

Addressing the Factors

Advocates spoke at the memorial about the multi-layered problems unhoused people face, in particular with their mental health. 

The 85 names of the lost lives were too many for Donnie Diego, president of the Healthcare for the Homeless Consumer Advisory Board. 

For the last two years, Diego has worked with the unhoused to support their health care needs. 

The memorial is traditionally held around the winter solstice in December due to it being the longest day of the year and a time when the weather is typically cold and wet. The National Coalition on Homelessness started the memorial in 1990 to bring awareness to the deaths and disparities unhoused people face year-round. 

“It’s the longest and hardest time for the homeless,” Diego said.

A former substance addict, Diego has seen the hold addiction has on the mental health of the unhoused community.

He said unhoused people typically don’t have access to an adequate level of healthcare, often not having a primary care provider, which results in using emergency rooms to seek medical attention. And when they are able to seek care, they have stigma to face as well.

“When people have that fear of being looked at, people step back with resistance,” Diego said. 

He speaks from experience of talking with various unhoused people in East County, who he says have told him that potential judgment from health professionals makes them feel unworthy of medical and mental help. 

Gigi Crowder, the chief executive officer of NAMI Contra Costa, said East County needs to provide more homelessness services. 

According to 2024 data from Contra Costa Continuum of Care, the county homeless services agency, a total of 2,049 households lost their housing in Antioch, the highest rate in the whole county. Although county services supports people with finding housing, East County residents are among the most vulnerable when it comes to finding immediate support and thus resort to sleeping on the streets. 

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Antioch doesn’t have a shelter for people with immediate needs. The Delta Landing shelter in Pittsburg is short-term, emergency housing, while the Winter Nights Safe Parking Shelters in Antioch provide a place for unhoused individuals living in vehicles.

The county is also using $4.1 million from the Encampment Resolution Funding state grant to provide an interim shelter site in Antioch. 

“Antioch does not fund this issue in a robust way,” said Crawford, “and its root cause of mental health.”