VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Friday marked National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day.
In Virginia Beach, advocates for the homeless community honored people who died without a home. 
News 3 Photojournalist Michael Woodward took us inside the vigil.
Related: Local nonprofit awards City of Virginia Beach $25K to help people experiencing homelessness
On the longest night of the year and the first official day of winter, communities across the nation gathered to commemorate the lives of the men and women who have died homeless.
"Housing is a basic human right for all, and this annual vigil serves as a powerful reminder that precious lives are still being lost due to homelessness," said Teresa Stanley, Virginia Beach Human Rights Commissioner. "It is a hopeful sign of great progress for us to be gathering for this annual vigil for the first time at the new Housing Resource Center, which provides an integrated array of services offered by the full community working together to make homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring in our city."
According to a federal government report more than 6,000 people in Virginia are homeless.
