There will be a vigil to remember Allan “Al” McKeon, who died homeless near Worcester’s Union Station Thursday night, at the station at 5pm February 13.
I have been shaking the trees trying to find someone who knew Mr. McKeon and will talk on the record. Word on the street is that he was receiving veteran’s services and had been drifting in and out of town too often to become part of any scene. I’ve gotten two very different physical descriptions for Mr. McKeon, which makes me fear he was not widely known.
Mr. McKeon was not one of the “16 on the street” reported here.
This vigil is sponsored by the Worcester Homeless Action Committee and Real Solutions.
Postscript
From Taryn Plumb’s account of the vigil in the Telegram & Gazette:
Three homeless people who knew Mr. McKeon also showed up at the gathering, crying and hugging.
“Don’t you understand how cold he was?†said one woman, Robin, who has been living in and out of shelters for 17 years. She claimed to have covered Mr. McKeon’s body with a sleeping bag the night he died.
“We sleep in a snowbank,†she said, tears running down her cheeks. “Don’t leave me outside to freeze to death.â€