Shake it for the Leaves — a night of music on Capitol Hill to support sidewalk memorials for those who died homeless

(Image: CHS)

You may have seen the leaves and the names scattered on Broadway or in front of First Hill’s Saint James Cathedral. Next week, you can support the project that marks the city’s homelessness crisis and remembers the lost and forgotten with bronze leaves embedded in sidewalks across Seattle with a night of music on Capitol Hill.

On Wednesday, March 11, the stage at Chop Suey will host Shake it for the Leaves, a benefit concert to raise funds and mobilize volunteers for the Homeless Remembrance Project. Starting at 8 PM, the evening promises a blend of local music and advocacy aimed at supporting and honoring the city’s unhoused neighbors.

Organizers say the Homeless Remembrance Project is a “homeless-led, grassroots group.” While its cause is dedicated to memorials, the group sees its mission as advocacy and change. It has been active since 2003. An effort involving homeless and formerly homeless organizers, faith leaders, artists, and social service providers, the project creates “places of hope, healing, and beauty” to honor those who have died while living on the streets of King County. Their work is centered on two primary permanent memorials: the Tree of Life sculpture at Victor Steinbrueck Park and the bronze “Leaves of Remembrance” embedded in sidewalks throughout Seattle.

The “Leaves” portion of the project is part of neighborhoods across the city including around Capitol Hill.

As the bronze Broadway Dance Steps provide a fun reminder of joy and frolic on Capitol Hill’s main drag, the clusters of memorial leaves serves as a somber reminder of the people who have lived and died on those same streets. Added in 2018 to the corner of Broadway and Republican in front of All Pilgrims Christian Church, these memorials commemorate individuals like Zack Lewis, who was lost to violence in 2011 near the site of what is now Broadway Hill Park. These installations are often joined by natural leaves as the seasons change.

(Image: Homeless Remembrance Project)

Six bronze leaves were added seven years ago, four more in 2019, and another remembering 29-year-old Alisha Pillman in 2021.

Organizers recently oversaw the placement of sixteen leaves at Hobson Place on 22nd Ave S to remember neighbors such as Anthony “Tony Love” Jones and Starlette Christian. Other local sites of remembrance include Seattle First Baptist Church on Harvard Ave, where memorials for individuals like Jonah Isaiah Dellinger were placed, and Saint James Cathedral on 9th Ave.

Each leaf includes the name of a person who lived in the area, their year of birth, and the year they died, ensuring that “our city must not forget” those who have passed away while dealing with homelessness.

You can find maps of these installations and look up names and read more about those remembered here.

The goal of these installations, organizers say, is to “rehumanize people who’ve been abandoned and neglected.” They emphasize that the project is a call to “remembrance, to compassion, and to action.”

Wednesday’s “Shake it for the Leaves” event will feature a musical lineup including local rock bands and spoken word. The evening’s civic weight will be anchored by Anitra Freeman. A poet, activist, and founding member of the project, Freeman is described by organizers as a “fierce voice for justice” and an “all-around civic treasure” who also works with the WHEEL/Women in Black groups.

Organizers invite those who cannot attend in person to support the cause via donations on the project’s website. Contributions support the placement of memorials and help to mark the dignity of every neighbor while Seattle continues to work to end its crisis.

Shake it for the Leaves takes place Wednesday, March 12th at Chop Suey at 1325 E Madison. Purchase tickets at chopsuey.com.

Learn more at fallenleaves.org.

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