For years, Jayson Conner and Jeffrey Newman were a fixture on the streets of Manhattan, leading a dedicated team of volunteers to distribute essential supplies to those experiencing homelessness. The couple, who founded the grassroots initiative Backpacks for the Streets, recently passed away within days of one another, as Daniel Villarreal reported for LGBTQ Nation. Conner died of a heart attack on June 28, and Newman passed away on July 2.
Since 2018, the couple and their 40 volunteers handed out more than 180,000 backpacks filled with hygiene supplies, food, and survival gear. The mission was deeply personal for Conner, who had previously experienced homelessness himself, while Newman brought decades of advocacy experience as the founding president of the LGBTQ+ publication Out. Together, they trained volunteers not just to hand out goods, but to engage with unhoused individuals with deep compassion and respect.
The tragic loss of both founders in such rapid succession has left their community grieving, but their volunteers are already discussing how to carry the organization’s efforts forward. Family and friends have remembered the two men as inseparable partners whose shared belief in human dignity transformed thousands of lives.
Read Daniel Villarreal’s full reporting on Conner and Newman’s lives, their extensive community impact, and reflections from their loved ones at https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/07/gay-couple-who-gave-180000-backpacks-to-houseless-people-dies-within-days-of-each-other/.
