PROVO, Utah — Monday was a day of remembrance in Utah County for the lives of four unsheltered community members that were lost through the winter.
“Jimmy, Amber, Alan and Marc,” said Karen McCandless, the executive director of Community Action Services and Food Bank. “Each one of them were fellow travelers in this journey that we were on.”
The journey led one of them, “Jimmy” Trafny, to a home in October of 2024.
“Jimmy was so excited… and he was making plans to celebrate the holidays in his new apartment,” McCandless said.
But he never got the chance.
“That was particularly hard for me,” she added.
The memorial comes just as warming centers overseen by McCandless and her team have closed for the season.
“You’re with someone every night for six months… Stability leads to positive outcomes,” said Kenna Mathews, who serves as their director of housing.
No one from their warming shelters was lost during the winter.
“It’s a miracle and you guys participated in that miracle,” said Pastor Justin Banks with the Genesis Project in Provo, which served as one of the centers.
But the challenge to keep others safe now grows.
“I’ve been worried since the morning we closed — way before that,” Mathews said, “How are we going to help our people?”
Mathews says the homeless population in Utah County is only getting bigger — “due to the housing crisis, due to the economy.”
So she’s hopeful those connections they’ve made through the warming centers stick.
She adds that rather than seeing their neighbors through a negative lens, she also hopes the people of Utah County help answer their prayers.
“So many times, they’re pushed aside and they’re rejected, neglected,” Banks said in prayer during the service. “Let us see the beauty in every life, God.”
“They are people and they do deserve to be remembered,” said Mathews. “Just like we want to be remembered, they want to be remembered.”
Mathews noted that she’s grateful for all those who have stepped up, with more than 500 volunteers contributing at the warming centers this winter.
