This story is part of the News Collaborative of Central Florida, an initiative of independent local news outlets working toward a more informed and engaged Central Florida. It was originally published WKMG-News 6.
Among the tall palms of Downtown Orlando’s Heritage Square, bedecked with lights, a small artificial Christmas tree near the entrance to the Orange County Regional History Center might be easy to miss.
On Wednesday morning, dozens gathered nearby to pray, and to remember 136 people who also, on any other day, might have gone unnoticed.
“We pause, gather and reflect to honor those who have died on the streets or in emergency shelters,” said Kristi Nowrouzi with IDignity, an organization that helps people get paperwork and identification cards.
One by one, advocates picked up white paper doves and added them to the tree. On each of 135 doves was written the name of someone who was homeless who died this year.
The 136th dove went to “John Doe,” a homeless man whose name may never be known.
IDignity has organized the Central Florida Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service for the past 12 years, in concert with the area’s homeless advocacy groups.
“People who are not likely to have had a memorial service of their own, folks with limited family and social connections,” said Martha Are, chief executive officer for Homeless Services Network of Central Florida. “The important part is that they have a service to honor them the same way housed people are honored.”
REMEMBERING THE HOMELESS — An observer prays during the annual Central Florida Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service in downtown Orlando, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. Hosted by iDignity, the multi-denominational service drew several hundred attending, including Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, clergy and community leaders. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Paper doves representing homeless individuals who passed away in the last year are placed on a Christmas tree in Heritage Park during the annual Central Florida Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service in downtown Orlando, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. Hosted by iDignity, the multi-denominational service drew several hundred attending, including Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, far left, clergy and community leaders. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
REMEMBERING THE HOMELESS — Paper doves representing homeless individuals who passed away in the last year are placed on a Christmas tree in Heritage Park during the annual Central Florida Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service in downtown Orlando, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. Hosted by iDignity, the multi-denominational service drew several hundred attending, including Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, clergy and community leaders. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
REMEMBERING THE HOMELESS — Guests pray during the annual Central Florida Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service in downtown Orlando, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. Hosted by iDignity, the multi-denominational service drew several hundred attending, including Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, clergy and community leaders. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
REMEMBERING THE HOMELESS — Paper doves representing homeless individuals who passed away in the last year are placed on a Christmas tree in Heritage Park during the annual Central Florida Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service in downtown Orlando, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. Hosted by iDignity, the multi-denominational service drew several hundred attending, including Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, far left, clergy and community leaders. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
REMEMBERING THE HOMELESS — Homeless individuals who passed away in the last year are listed in the program during the annual Central Florida Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service in downtown Orlando, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. Hosted by iDignity, the multi-denominational service drew several hundred attending, including Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, clergy and community leaders. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
REMEMBERING THE HOMELESS — Paper doves representing homeless individuals who passed away in the last year are placed on a Christmas tree in Heritage Park during the annual Central Florida Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service in downtown Orlando, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. Hosted by iDignity, the multi-denominational service drew several hundred attending, including Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, far left, clergy and community leaders. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
REMEMBERING THE HOMELESS — Paper doves representing homeless individuals who passed away in the last year are placed on a Christmas tree in Heritage Park during the annual Central Florida Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service in downtown Orlando, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. Hosted by iDignity, the multi-denominational service drew several hundred attending, including Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, clergy and community leaders. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
REMEMBERING THE HOMELESS — Jordan Markham places paper doves representing homeless individuals who passed away in the last year on a Christmas tree in Heritage Park during the annual Central Florida Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service in downtown Orlando, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. Hosted by iDignity, the multi-denominational service drew several hundred attending, including Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, far left, clergy and community leaders. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Joel Hunter, Pastor of Community Benefit at Action Church in Winter Park, gets a hug during the annual Central Florida Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service in downtown Orlando, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. Hosted by iDignity, the multi-denominational service drew several hundred attending, including Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, clergy and community leaders. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
REMEMBERING THE HOMELESS — Guests gather in Heritage Park for the annual Central Florida Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service in downtown Orlando, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. Hosted by iDignity, the multi-denominational service drew several hundred attending, including Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, clergy and community leaders. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
REMEMBERING THE HOMELESS — Paper doves representing homeless individuals who passed away in the last year are placed on a Christmas tree in Heritage Park during the annual Central Florida Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service in downtown Orlando, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. Hosted by iDignity, the multi-denominational service drew several hundred attending, including Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, clergy and community leaders. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Joel Hunter, Pastor of Community Benefit at Action Church in Winter Park, greets Dr. Reggie Kidd, Dean of the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, during the annual Central Florida Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service in downtown Orlando, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. Hosted by iDignity, the multi-denominational service drew several hundred attending, including Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, clergy and community leaders. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
REMEMBERING THE HOMELESS — Jonathan Green tolls the bell in Heritage Park during the annual Central Florida Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service in downtown Orlando, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. Hosted by iDignity, the multi-denominational service drew several hundred attending, including Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, clergy and community leaders. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
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REMEMBERING THE HOMELESS — An observer prays during the annual Central Florida Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service in downtown Orlando, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. Hosted by iDignity, the multi-denominational service drew several hundred attending, including Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, clergy and community leaders. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
According to the annual census of homeless people, known as the Point-In-Time Count, there are an estimated 2,781 people in the Orlando area who were considered homeless in 2025, with 1,090 of those people sleeping outdoors or in cars. Advocates who try to connect homeless people with services say the number is higher.
Advocacy groups say they have helped more than 4,000 homeless people into housing programs this year alone. Staff and volunteers go into the woods, under overpasses, to parks, anywhere homeless people can find a place to sleep.
Richard Amabile, who works with United Global Outreach and Samaritan Resource Center, says it can take time and patience to build the trust to get people to accept help.
“Try to meet them where they are at, in the encampments, on the streets, gas stations, in the medians, wherever they are. Try to introduce myself, get to know them, try meet them where they are, to build a relationship with them and try to build some trust with them so I can assess their needs and try to help them,” Amabile said.
These days, it’s tougher to build that trust.
Over the past year, News 6 and about a dozen local media partners have tracked and reported on how Florida’s public camping ban is affecting the homeless community and those who try to help them.
The law, HB 1365, forced local governments to find ways to get people off the streets by allowing residents to sue if they feel nothing is being done.
A News 6 analysis of court records found 195 arrests in Orange County from Dec. 31, 2024 to Dec. 16 for public camping.
Another 88 arrests occurred under some variation of the charge of “being in a park after hours.” Three arrests were found under the charge of “sitting or laying down on a sidewalk downtown.”
The overwhelming majority of the arrests are in the city of Orlando. News 6 found a total of 279 arrests by Orlando Police Department in court records across all charges. Six were found in Ocoee, and one each were found in Apopka and Winter Park.
One of the top arrest locations is Heritage Square, where this year’s memorial service took place.
“Being previously homeless myself, honestly, my thoughts were – I felt like I was not valued,” Amabile said. “I didn’t really meet people that were going out into camps and doing all that, probably because I was just hiding or what the case may be.
“I don’t want people to feel that way, I want them to know that they’re cared for, and there is help, and it is possible to recover if you are addicted….” Amabile added tearfully.
“We know that people are still hiding,” Are said. “There are definitely people who are looking for places where they can sleep without triggering an arrest or being moved on.”
Nowrouzi said this year the service had fewer names to remember, but the list is no less heartbreaking.
“It’s really easy to pass judgment as we drive past people who are walking down the streets, and we know that they don’t have a home of their own, but everybody has a story, and there’s a lot of circumstances that may have driven them to where they’re at in their life right now,” Nowrouzi said.
Richard Amabile looked to find Joseph Crenshaw’s name on the tree.
Amabile met Crenshaw several times over the last few months during his outreach. Amabile described him as bright, kind, and always trying to help. He had struggled with drug addiction, but was doing well in a program. Amabile said he also cared for a woman who had one leg, who was now alone.
“This just happened a couple weeks ago, and a lot of lives were touched by his life,” Amabile said. “And a lot of people miss him now. A lot of people mourn his loss, and I’m mourning this loss because of it.”