A room where the homeless can listen to music, learn instruments and practice and perform was recently dedicated by House of Hope Community Development Corporation in memory of a Rhode Island man who died while homeless in San Francisco.

Mark Goldstein, 28, grew up in East Greenwich and attended the Rhode Island School of Design and the Community College of Rhode Island. He long contended with bipolar disorder and alcoholism, even as his family sought to provide psychiatric and rehabilitative services. His parents, Donna and Richard Goldstein, proposed the music room to honor his life after he passed away last year.

“Today is a day of celebration,” said Donna Goldstein who taught at the Rocky Hill School, during the ceremony. “Today is a day to celebrate the important and deserving people who will play and enjoy music here and reconnect with their community.”

The “ReMARKable Music Room and Resource Center,” located at the House of Hope’s headquarters at 3190 Post Road, is in the former storefront of the organization’s Boutique store that closed earlier this year.

The July 16 event was attended by about 50 relatives and friends of Mark who were among 69 donors that contributed nearly $9,000 to establish the room and support House of Hope’s goal of ending chronic homelessness in Rhode Island.

Among the speakers was Mayor Scott Avedisian, who praised the Goldsteins for their efforts to aid the homeless on behalf of their late son. The ceremony also featured remarks by Laura Jaworski, interim executive director of House of Hope, and Stephen Miller, president of the board of directors, who served as master of ceremonies.

Ron Tibbetts, a member of the band, “Along Came the Flood,” and a friend who had played in a band with Goldstein, performed several songs on acoustic guitar. Tibbetts said he could feel Mark’s spirit in the same way he did when they performed together.

Richard Goldstein said that his son, while in Rhode Island, had lived for a time in an apartment in Apponaug, where the Music Room is located.

“If you look closely, you can see him slightly hunched over an acoustic guitar, playing intently,” said Goldstein. “Or, if you look through the windows, you can see him having a laugh and a smoke with his buddies – Marlboro Reds – he is smoking half and handing the rest to a friend.”

The room is decorated with a large photo-on-canvas reproduction of a black-and-white sketch Mark drew when he was 15, entitled “Guitar Man.” The location will be shared with other House of Hope programs.

Miller ended the event by asking the audience to stand for a moment of silence in “the spirit of the remarkable Mark Goldstein,” declaring afterwards, “In this space, music will be created.”

IN MEMORY OF MARK:

Ron Tibbetts, a member of the band, “Along Came the Flood,” and a friend who had played in a band with Mark Goldstein, performed several songs on acoustic guitar during the dedication.