GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A memorial is being hosted to honor unclaimed people buried at a Grand Rapids cemetery.
Organizer Sarah Sun says 364 unclaimed people are buried at Oak Grove Cemetery.
"It tugs at your heart, because everyone deserves something that is beautiful or a way for folks to remind them we're not doing it yet,” said Sun.
Sun says these people are considered unclaimed because many of them were either unhoused, couldn't afford a proper burial or their family did not claim them or couldn't financially support their burial.
“It's not like the families who have had to have folks buried here didn't want to do something. But, you know, financial barriers are huge. People, in life and in death, they can only do so much, you know, financially, and this is where it happens,” said Sun.
Sun says this reality lives right in her neighborhood. Her friend who is currently unhoused plans to play music at this memorial. Sun says he's helping because he, too, might end up here one day.
“He's a musician. And he said, you know, I guess it'll be nice for me to see this place, because I presume that's probably where I'm going to end up, you know. And he said, I just don't, I don't have any financial means,” said Sun.
That's why she and others are encouraging people to come out on September 21 at 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. to sing songs, tell poems and play music.
Sun is also working to get a sign for this part of the cemetery which will include a QR code that people can scan to see the list of people buried there.
She says she hopes this becomes a yearly event.