Michael Gill, homeless advocate and Rochester's 'Grateful Dad,' dies at 68
Michael Gill hadn't thought too much about Rochester's unhoused community until he heard a city crew bulldozed a tent encampment beneath the Douglass-Anthony Bridge days before Christmas in 2014.
A Bobcat front-end loader tore through tents, blankets, and a single Christmas tree within minutes. Gill's sense of outrage and injustice grew just as quickly, leading him to a decade of fierce grassroots advocacy that sought to address homelessness by working directly with those it impacted.
Gill, 68, died suddenly on May 7, his daughter Casi Barend said.
Though family members had noticed his health declining, Barend said Gill's death was unexpected. He was still doing street outreach as recent as last month and had plans to travel to celebrate another daughter's graduation soon.
"To know him was to love him ... and he loved everyone back," Barend said.
Michael Gill: Decade of homeless advocacy in Rochester
Gill focused his outreach on unhoused individuals who can't or won't seek refuge from area shelters.
"A lot of people would say they should (go)," said Amy D'Amico, a volunteer with Recovery All Ways who worked closely with Gill. "Mike would say, 'But they don't ― so let's keep them alive.' Some people want them to behave a different way. Michael took people as they were and tried to help them on their path."
Soon after the city razed the South Avenue tent city in 2014, Gill started visiting encampments and area parks with hot meals in tow. He called these visits "potluck in the park," D'Amico said. It was a true grassroots effort: Gill would call some friends and ask them to bring a dish to pass. Then, he'd show up the next week to do more of the same.
In 2018, the rebuilt South Avenue site was torn down again. This time, Gill was instrumental in advocating for a city-sanctioned encampment, which came to be known as Peace Village, off Industrial Street. The site became home to a collection of small wooden sheds built and donated by volunteers.
In its early days, Gill, scruffy in worn clothing and with a long white mustache, slept at Peace Village himself ― not because he didn't have a house of his own, but because he wanted to keep order and mediate conflict to avoid any unwanted interference from the city if things went awry, D'Amico said.
He was gruff and argumentative at times, able to push back on those who tested him, but led by examples of kindness.
D'Amico recalled an outreach event where a volunteer accidentally spilled the soup they were serving, soaking the two cigarettes a woman had carefully lined up along the edge of her tray. Without saying anything, Gill pulled two replacements from his pack and kept the woman moving.
There was no argument. No show of heroics. Just good will.
"He understood people, that they were stressed, and a little generous gesture like that means everything sometimes," D'Amico said. "He understood that you could start a conversation over a cigarette."
In this way, he earned the community's trust and was able to help people reintroduce discipline into their lives ― whether by pushing them to get to their appointments or to maintain a regular supper time.
He worked with several outreach groups, including Person Centered Housing Options, Recovery All Ways and The Vineyard Farm, and ran his own Facebook page: HOMES 4 the HOMELESS.
In 2020, Gill was honored with an ESL Jefferson Award, recognizing his efforts to improve the Rochester community.
"He had a little piece of a lot of people's hearts," D'Amico said.
"Grateful Dad" was a dad to strangers
To Barend, Gill was a fun-loving storyteller who built community everywhere he went.
He was born in Corning and moved to Rochester in his 20s. Gill spent half of his career as a security guard and the other half as a secretary at School of the Arts, where he tried to use his brief interactions with students to guide them toward good, she said.
He always had a story: About the student he helped, about the antics he got into flirting with girls in his youth, about the backpacking trip to New York City he led his daughters on without anywhere to stay.
Barend said Gill always introduced her and her sisters, Chevonne Ritter and Chauna Gill, as his greatest accomplishments. He had an "Irish heart" with love that felt endless, she said.
The local music scene felt it, too.
"He was always behind the scenes at every show, somehow, someway," Barend said. "Talking to the band about their inspiration and where they needed to take their music. He saw the potential in every musician and didn't have any trouble or mind telling them exactly what they needed."
His love of the rock band Grateful Dead evolved into a nickname: "They called him 'Grateful Dad' because he was a dad to strangers," Barend said. "Everybody."
Memorial service for Michael Gill
Gill's loved ones are working with the city to host a memorial party in Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park on June 16 ― Father's Day. More details will be shared soon.
His family and friends are asking for donations to Peace Village (through Person Centered Housing Options), REACH Advocacy or the House of Mercy, to help keep the encampment and those who live there alive, even in Gill's absence.
— Kayla Canne reports on community justice and safety efforts for the Democrat and Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter @kaylacanne and @bykaylacanne on Instagram. Get in touch at kcanne@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Advocate for Rochester unhoused community Michael Gill dies at 68
