As a tribute to its namesake, the I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless held a service Wednesday to dedicate a memorial garden on the grounds to his memory.
The event marked the sixth anniversary of the center’s operations.
Lloyd and Carol Hager, friends of Sulzbacher, donated a check for $5,000 to assist with the construction of the children’s building at the center.
Virgil Green, chief of the City’s mental health and welfare division, reminisced about his first contact with Sulzbacher.
“Initially, he didn’t know what to think of us social services people,” said Green.
“He thought we were liberals. But through his involvement, he saw that we were there to help.”
Guests of the center moved the audience with their participation in the ceremony.
When Gregory King, a homeless person, sang “Amazing Grace” as the benediction it brought tears to the eyes of a young lady listening.
Ashlie Fromme, a homeless child, recited a poem as well.
The memorial garden consists of a live oak, azalea and spirea bushes and a granite bench engraved like a tombstone. The concept was the idea of the Emergency Services and Homeless Coalition.