Candlelight Ceremony Honors Lehigh Valley’s Homeless Neighbors Lost in 2022

Valley Health Partners and Lehigh Valley Health Network hosted the vigil to honor our neighbors who died outside while experiencing homelessness

By Hannah Ropp

December 28, 2022

Valley Health Partners and Lehigh Valley Health Network hosted a candlelight vigil to honor our neighbors who died outside while experiencing homelessness in the Lehigh Valley in 2022.

Hoonani (Nani) Cuadrado, PA-C, with Valley Health Partners Community Health Center (VHP) Street Medicine, remembers Rodney Hockstrusser, or “Shorty” as his friends called him, as an amazing jokester. Daniel Bradley had an immense love for Philadelphia, the city where he grew up.

Sadly, both Hockstrusser and Bradley were among 13 homeless friends the VHP Street Medicine team lost in 2022. They were honored at the seventh annual National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day Candlelight Ceremony hosted by VHP Street Medicine and Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) Dec. 21 in Allentown. Their names will be added to the Remembrance Wall at LVHN–One City Center, which was created in 2016 to honor the memory of lost Street Medicine patients.

The longest night of the year

Dec. 21 is the first day of winter and the longest night of the year. According to Joseph Yozviak, DO, Chief Medical Officer, VHP, it’s also a crucial time for the VHP Street Medicine team to check on many of its patients who don’t have a warm place to sleep or reliable health care.

“Tonight, we are reminded of the toll that winter nights can take on those experiencing homelessness in our community,” Yozviak says. “It is the responsibility of our health center to ensure the VHP Street Medicine team has the people and resources it needs to provide the care and meet those needs whatever and wherever that may be.”

The VHP Street Medicine team provides primary and urgent health care services to those experiencing homelessness throughout the Lehigh Valley. Team members visit homeless shelters, soup kitchens and recovery homes as needed. They also do outreach several days a week.

LVHN President and Chief Executive Officer Brian A. Nester, DO, MBA, had high praise for members of VHP’s Street Medicine team. “The VHP Street Medicine team continues to provide the medical and patient-centered care these individuals need and deserve. I’m humbled by their dedication and compassion, and I’m proud that LVHN continues to support their mission,” he says.