LEWISTON — The public is invited to participate in a candlelight vigil Friday to remember the homeless during the holiday season.

It will be held from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., even if it’s raining. Participants will walk from Trinity Jubilee Center at 247 Bates St. to Calvary United Methodist Church at 59 Sabattus St.

The vigil is sponsored by Lewiston-Auburn Alliance for Services to the Homeless, New Beginnings and Lewiston-Auburn Multifaith Group. It’s part of a national movement recognizing the homeless on or near the winter solstice Friday, the first day of winter and the longest night of the year.

“The goal is for people who participate to experience what it’s like to be out on the streets in the dark and cold,” Rachel Spencer-Reed, director of community services at New Beginnings in Lewiston, said. “You’re doing this for one hour. The homeless are often out all night.”

Statewide estimates on the number of homeless range from 1,025 to 7,000, Giff Jamison, chairman of the Lewiston-Auburn Alliance for Services to the Homeless, said. “If you take a stroll through Kennedy Park you will see people with sleeping bags. There is a visible homeless population.”

“People who are homeless often go largely unrecognized. Their ties have been severed with family members and people in the community,” he said.

Before the walk, attendees will remember those who have lost their lives while homeless. One is Kimberly Dobbie, 48, who was stabbed to death in front of her twin sons outside a Lewiston laundromat on July 15. She was days away from moving from a homeless shelter to an apartment.

Albert Flick, 76, of Auburn was charged with his murder and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

After speeches from faith leaders and reading the names of those who have died, vigil participants will walk several blocks down Bates Street to Main Street. The procession will continue to Sabattus Street, stopping in front of the Calvary United Methodist Church.

The route will go near organizations that help the low-income or homeless population: New Beginnings on 491 Main St., Trinity Jubilee Center at 247 Bates St., St. Mary’s Nutrition Center at 208 Bates St., The Center for Wisdom’s Women at 97 Blake St.; and the City Mission group at Calvary United Methodist Church.

The public is welcome to join the vigil at any point and encouraged to carry signs to raise awareness of homelessness.

Hot soup will be provided inside Calvary church, and New Beginnings will offer van rides back to Trinity Jubilee Center.

A vigil to remember the homeless will be held from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Friday, the first day of winter, in Lewiston. Chris Bicknell of New Beginnings in Lewiston leads the vigil in 2017. (Sun Journal file photo)

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