Legendary filmmaker and affordable wine pitchman Orson Welles once said: “We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we’re not alone.”
But for untold thousands who die alone without the support of family and friends each year, ascribed loneliness still gives way to dignity and, finally, care as officials and volunteers step up.
While local and federal agencies do not report the number of indigent deaths annually, nearly 600 unsheltered individuals died in Maricopa County during 2020, second only to Los Angeles County, where 1,383 people reportedly died on the streets that year, according to the advocacy group Homeless Deaths Count.
