A mass will be celebrated Thursday evening at St. Patrick Church in San Francisco to remember the homeless who have died on the streets of the city, church officials said.
The mass starts at 6:30 p.m. at the church at 756 Mission St. and will be celebrated by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.
Church officials said there are about 2,100 chronically homeless on the city's streets, according to a biennial count that was most recently completed last year.
The problem is bad enough that residents approved a measure in Tuesday's election that will raise money to help address the problem. Money will be raised by taxing big businesses in the city.
Church officials said the number of homeless that die each year are difficult to track, but death is four to nine times higher among the chronically homeless than in the general population.
Lives of homeless persons are 25 years shorter on average.
About 7,500 people are homeless each night in San Francisco, according to church officials.
