Photo: Hawaiian lei and new stones in OTR Memorial Garden.   

Three women were remembered at a ceremony June 2 in the memorial garden at On The Rise (OTR), 341 Broadway in Cambridge.

New stones will honor Carole, Lauren, and Marylin, OTR participants who died during the past year. (Last names omitted for privacy.)   Engraved riverstones for Carole and Lauren were ready to be embedded among the 25 others already there. Marylin’s stone was expected soon.

The garden is a popular respite for participants in On The Rise day programs. The non-profit organization provides safety, community and advocacy for homeless women from Cambridge-Somerville and Greater Boston. Information: http://www.ontherise.org.

The annual garden ceremony has become a tradition, offering a sense of belonging and permanence that is especially important among homeless people, whose mortality rates have been shown to be 3 to 5 times higher^* than those of the general population.

Photo: Speakers Jutta Hicks (l) and OTR founder Katya Fels Smyth (r), with OTR Director Martha Sandler (c).

The first speaker at the service was Jutta Hicks, a volunteer, garden enthusiast, and long-time friend to OTR. She helped to establish the garden two years ago with the support of the Hicks Family Charitable Foundation.

“I’d call On The Rise the ‘aloha spirit’ place, “ said Ms. Hicks, who lives in Hawaii and Boston.

“’Aloha’ means more than 'hello' and 'good-bye,' " she said. "It means acceptance, help, tolerance, patience, kindness.” She placed a traditional Hawaiian kukui nut lei at the site.

Each year On The Rise helps open the way to hope and new possibilities for more than 300 women. A number of them attended the ceremony and reception, along with OTR staff, volunteers, board members and friends—some 40 people in all.

Also among the guests was Marc Mazzarelli, whose Cambridge landscape architecture firm worked with Ms. Hicks to create the garden.

Speakers stood in the shady, granite-bordered niche in the front yard. Jenna Markard sang a Bill Withers song, “Lean On Me.“ Tributes followed: to Carole by Charyti; to Lauren by Irene; to Marylin by Tina.

Katya Fels Smyth, who founded On The Rise in 1995, spoke about the need for programs that offer a sense of community.

“Community is a necessity that has come to be seen as an ‘extra,’” she said. “Space has to be found in which community takes place, but the community doesn’t come from the space—it comes from what you do there.”

The Rev. Diana Phillips closed the ceremony with a reminder: “Every single life matters.”

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^* O’Connell JJ. Dying in the shadows: the challenge of providing health care for homeless people. Canadian Medical Association Journal 2004; 170(8): 1251-1252.