RENO, Nev. — An Interfaith Candlelight Vigil was held in Reno Monday to honor more than 100 people who died in Washoe County while experiencing homelessness in 2023.

Monday night's vigil, organized by a number of local faith groups, was the third of its kind, originally starting in 2022 after a spike in homeless deaths then.

"That first year we were out here was extremely cold, extremely cold. And I think all of us said, this is just a taste of what people experience. We were here for a couple of hours, and it was really hard to be out here," Co-organizer of the vigil Rita Sloan said.

Since then, the number of deaths have grown exponentially, according to organizers.

"The numbers keep increasing from when we started this, there were 52 people, today 135," Co-organizer of the vigil Father Chuck Durante said.

Organizers weren't able to pinpoint one specific cause of this increase, but said that more resources are needed in the community for unhoused people.

"It's not enough to open the Resource Center, and almost every day that Cares Campus is pretty much maximum, especially when the weather gets cold," Father Durante said.

The hope, Father Durante said, is also that be holding the vigil, there will be more awareness in the community, which people will then act on.

To learn more about what resources are currently available for unhoused people in Washoe County, click here.