 So I'm Sheila and I'm from Salt Lake City, and I'm here with my oldest brother Tom and my youngest brother Lonnie. And I lived actually at St. Joseph's Orphanage in the 60s for eight years. And so we would like to thank you all for coming and welcome all of you for being here for the first phase in the construction of the Memorial Healing Space. The plaques that are being placed on the trees that have been planted are a symbol of remembrance. And each plaque is inscribed with family names and words written by the survivors. The voices of St. Joseph's Orphanage also want all of you, our supporters and our donors to... Can you hear me? Oh, our supporters and our donors and the public to witness the birth of this important and meaningful Memorial Space. With your ongoing support, we can continue to make this beautiful vision a reality. We'd like to thank those who continue to champion our cause, Mayor Weinberger and the Burlington City and Parks team. Dan Cahill, Sophie Sove, Max Medelinski, John Adams Colitz, Derek Roche and Sam Trost. And I'd like to have Dan Cahill come up and talk from the Burlington City and Parks. Thank you for that beautiful opening. All right, let me know if I'm not loud enough. Wow, it's really special to be here with all of you, to be here to acknowledge the courage, the conviction of the voices of St. Joseph's Group. So thank you for being here. Thank you for having me be a part of this process with you all. So yeah, in the past weeks, I've been thinking a lot about this moment and I've been thinking a lot about the last three years of working with all of you. And really what comes forward for me in thinking about that and thinking about this moment of acknowledging and recognizing the courage of the voices of St. Joseph's Group is just a lot of gratitude. And it got me thinking back to, you know, early on in the process and maybe I should explain a little bit for a few of us here maybe that don't know about the process. The Parks Department has been working really closely with the voices of St. Joseph's Project over the last three years to envision how the Kieslick Park space can represent and acknowledge the stories and the truths of the experiences of former residents of the orphanage. And to have that create a connected space here for the future. And so in one of our early meetings with you all and as a parks team, we're debriefing on it. And, you know, my supervisor and the park superintendent Derek Roach was kind of reflecting and sharing that, you know, we aren't just stewards of green spaces and programs. We're stewards of stories as park professionals. And this project and working with you all has really kind of brought that to the forefront for us in a really deep and meaningful way. And I know for me personally that I think about the stories that our park lands hold a lot differently through working with all of you. You know, being human is messy and whether that's, you know, at home, at work, out in the public conflict happens and we bump into each other. And I think that that's also in the open spaces that we shared together in the process of meeting together. There was a lot of fullness and openness encouraged by everybody in the group. And I just wanted to express some gratitude for that too. You know, both on a personal level and I can say for our park team, we learned a lot throughout the process of working with all of you. And so that's another gratitude that I was feeling. So yeah, so in this process of what we've been doing together, you know, like a truth that keeps coming back is that when you can find a safe space to share your truth, that only good things can come from that. And even I've learned that even if it's a hard truth to share, it's important to bring it forth. And it's reminded me all the courage that you've shown reminds me that when you bring forth darkness, sometimes you have to have that in order to have the light. And we look at this space and these trees, you know, the parks team, the conservation team who's our home is here. This is our office. You know, we're committed to making sure that these trees that we're acknowledging and these plaques that we're placing, you know, will grow and be stewarded into the future and that these trees will go tall here. And yeah, it's a real honor to be here with you all. And without further ado, I want to turn it over to someone who's been integral in making this park come to life and this process be available for us as parks staff to work with you all, our mayor, Merle Weinberger. Good morning, everyone. It is really nice to be able to be here with all of you today for this event. You know, I have been involved in this effort for some time now. I remember really quite vividly in the summer of 2018 when I became aware of the BuzzFeed article about what had happened here. And as someone who was from Vermont but didn't grow up here in Burlington, hadn't read all of Sam's articles back in the prior decades, I was shocked. I had no awareness of it and was really deeply moved by the descriptions of abuse, pain and loss that the residents shared in that article. And it was really clear to me that we needed something different in the wake of that. We needed an official accounting of what had transpired at the orphanage to bring some measure of accountability if possible. But I think we're more optimistic than about at least consensus and understanding of what had actually occurred here. And we hoped that there would be some healing that could come out of doing that as well, some resolution and healing of that troubled period. And to that end, I worked with the Attorney General T.J. Donovan to create the St. Joseph Orphanage Task Force and give it the charge of supporting the criminal investigation which the BPD carried out, reviewing the role of the institutions most responsible and holding them to account and launching a restorative inquiry. I did not have clarity where that restorative effort would go, what healing could look like. It is very heartwarming to be here a little more than five years later and have been able to see the exhibit that was shown in our library last year and then now to be here for this next stage. It really gives me hope about the ability this community has and that really we have as people to heal and to address past abuses. So there have been many members of the city team have participated in this in one way or another and I appreciate that Dan called a number of them out. I do also want to recognize the efforts of the Burlington Police Department, the Community Justice Center, the Burlington City Attorney's Office and to the many other professionals and community members who have dedicated time, skills and leadership to support the survivors of the St. Joseph Orphanage in this restorative justice process. However, above all, clearly the most dedicated group of people doing this work has been the voices of the St. Joseph Orphanage and I am grateful to the many former residents and family members of this institution who bravely engaged in the painful work of sharing your stories and in doing so have shared a great gift with our community. It's the gift of knowing our history, our true history so we can grapple with it, learn from it and ensure that we never repeat the errors of it. This tree dedication will be an important permanent commemoration of your work and your commitment. I look forward to seeing the future memorial which also would not be happening without your advocacy. We do invite everyone who can to make a financial contribution towards that memorial space, that memorial project at Kieslik Park. The city is putting in funds and we are working out the details with the developer of when that work can take place in the relatively short period of time. I hope that this tree dedication will serve as an important reminder of the restorative process that drove its creation and that the victims of abuse will feel heard, seen and believed. Thank you all again for being here for this dedication and I look forward to coming back soon when the completed memorial is in place. Thank you. Thank you. So I would also like to invite Judy Cyprian, our facilitator for the voices of St. Joseph's Orphanage for the restorative justice group. Thank you. Good morning. It's great to see everybody here. I am delighted to be here and I've had the honor of being the facilitator for the voices of St. Joseph's group for the past year and a half. You can't hear me? You can't hear me? Can you hear me now? Okay, I'll shout. My mother always said, you talk too loudly, be quiet. Alright, so I have had the honor of being the facilitator for the voices of St. Joseph's Orphanage group for the past year and a half. They are an amazing group of people. They have been involved in a variety of important projects. I'm constantly amazed at their accomplishments, one of which is to help create this memorial healing space. I just returned from a trip to Ireland. And when I was there, I came amazingly, I thought, across a poem by an Irish poet named Seamus Heaney that just completely spoke to me about this event. And the importance of this event for the members of St. Joseph's, the importance of this event cannot be overestimated. It is so important to them. This poem spoke to me about this event and I'm going to read the first two verses of this poem. The poem is called The Cure at Troy. Human beings suffer. They torture one another. They get hurt and get hard. Can fully write a wrong inflicted and endured. History says, don't hope on this side of the grave. But then once in a lifetime, the long four tidal wave of justice can rise up and hope and history rhyme. This is a moment where I believe that hope and history rhyme. The history is in the plaque that acknowledges and allows each former resident of St. Joseph's to say, yes, I was here. My siblings were here and we suffered here. The hope is that the young sapling that holds their plaque will grow into a beautiful tree as young children of today. Thanks to their efforts can grow up free from harm and trauma. Several members of the restorative justice group have submitted some short writings about what the plaques in the park mean to them. And I would like to invite Kim to come up and read one of theirs because they couldn't be here today. And also Caitlin. And also I have something that I have written about what it means to me. So I will read mine and then we'll have Kim come up. So I feel this space of healing is important for the hundreds and possibly thousands of Vermont families who for reasons such as neglect, poverty and illness were forced to separate children from their families. When disruption of the family unit happens, it's a challenge that unfolds the entire community. This memorial site will be a perpetual reminder of the power of community involvement with helping families go through their difficult times. It is important that we continue to support programs that keep families together through stressful situations. This healing space will bring peace and comfort to those families and individuals who were affected by hardships and especially those children who spent months and years away from those they loved. We also remember those children who are now adults that never felt supported by anyone and those innocent lives who suffered for years in fear and isolation. Kelly Harrell, a practicing shaman once wrote, we don't heal in isolation but in community. And thank you to everyone who helped this healing space a reality. Hi everyone. Thank you for coming. I'm going to read two things that Mary, one is Mary Ellen Bro Goodrow. She says, I was adopted from St. Joseph Orphanage at two and a half months old. It was always important to me to be with my Orphanage family. That's why I'm so happy to be part of this. To make sure that Orphanage residents are never forgotten. Being part of the restorative justice efforts for Orphanage survivors brought all of us together and provided a wonderful opportunity to heal. The next one is from Sherry Jevrey. When I pondered what the ceremony and the tree plaques mean to me, I think of how I remember so vividly playing on this land, hiding in the areas and always using our imaginations to carry us away from our lives. This was respite, respite, sorry, from the dark belly of the beast. When we were here, we were free to let ourselves dream of alternate realities. Those are my memories of my childhood that was spent here in Burlington. And then from my heart, I lived at St. Joseph's and I'm not sure exactly how long, but I was there three different times from when I was very young. And then again, sometime I don't have my records, so I don't know. And then again in eighth grade, I loved this property. This property was freeing to me. I can remember running down the stairs, throwing open that back door, and seeing the lake and all the property, the road down to the lake, many, many hours with our lay counselors who were wonderful to us, bringing us down to swim, playing baseball, and even some of the nuns who, this one nun in particular I remember, Sister Helen Dubow, would play her guitar and we'd all sit around and sing. And those are the memories I choose to remember because the property was healing to us, and hopefully it'll continue to be healing throughout the many, many years that these trees are alive. I thank you for listening. Can everyone hear me? Now can you hear me? Better? I'll try to speak well enough. I want to thank everybody for being here today and also everyone who has had a hand in making this event happen and everything that's going on in the future. Now can you hear me? Okay, yell? Okay, I'll yell. Okay, I imagine some people must wonder what is so important about the orphanage and those of us who are there. My first thought is to say there's nothing important about us. The orphanage, building, however, holds our voices captive still today and holds secrets we still cannot say. Have you ever noticed when you think about places that you have lived a feeling of feeling connected to them? Have you ever gone by them and said, I live there, I live there? I live there, we live there. Friends, whether their parents have died or they were given up, tend to feel unloved, unwanted, unworthy, unimportant, and like they don't belong. The sisters of Providence seemed obsessed with confirming these feelings. Through daily beatings, various forms of torture, humiliation, segregation, and sexual abuse. Allowing members of the Catholic diocese to use the orphanage like a child brothel. The nuns taught some children that even God did not love them, telling them whose parents were divorced or unwed, and those were not Catholic, that they were the devil's children, and will spend an eternal day in hell. Children, all children, deserve to live happy, healthy, and safe lives. As the last surviving children of St. Joseph's orphanage, our mission is to ensure the safety of children, both now and in the future, and hold accountable those who abuse them. We must protect our children, both physically and emotionally. Sticks and stones may temporary break bones, but names and humiliation may never heal. Every plaque on every tree is a message to all who see it, who says you must not let history repeat itself. Every name you see is a voice of someone who is once a resident of St. Joseph's orphanage. These voices, our voices, are no longer muted. We are saying what happened to us was horrific, what occurred honestly and could have been prevented. Those responsible for their trophies have yet to take responsibility for them. Please join us in working to keep children safe so no child's voice becomes a name on a plaque in the future. Thank you. I would like to invite anyone from the voices of St. Joseph's orphanage that would like to say a few words to come up if you would like. So next I'm going to invite Sam Hemingway to come up and speak and introduce Sally Dale's family here from Connecticut. Thank you. Nice to see everybody. The stories I did go back, of course, into the 90s and so almost 30 years ago. On a day like this, I was walking up that sidewalk with Sally Dale and Bob, her husband, I had talked to them. I had written some stories but the big ones were yet to come. This is my first time meeting Sally and I knew from talking to her and talking to the lawyers that she was early big deal. She had her story spanned a long time at the orphanage and she's incredibly articulate and willing to speak to me. So here she is driving up from Connecticut. As I say, I think it was earlier in the fall, baby, but not much. We parked down the road a little bit and we're walking towards the orphanage and talking a little bit to chit chat. Somewhere right about here, you can see the building and Sally was walking like this. She wouldn't look at the building. And I said, what's going on? I was trying to figure out what's going on and she said, I just can't look at it. I just can't. And finally she did. And Bob is holding her and she's crying. Well that was the lead of my story. The power of that moment was unbelievable and we finally did make it up to the front of the orphanage and walked around a little bit and left. I think Bob, her son here today, who I'm going to introduce, will probably tell a little more of that about what that was like because he witnessed it and their family witnessed what she went through just to come here and visit with me and be interviewed in person. Anyway, I wanted to tell you that because it's one of the, you know, when you're a reporter, you talk to lots of people. I was in the business for a long time and a few things stand out. A few interviews never go away. This was one of them. And to see that the voices group do what they've done, Sally's, you know, many years gone now, but her spirit is in that group and her spirit is partly why we're here because the force of the power of the story she told back then lives on in you folks and without her, other things wouldn't have happened. It took 20 more years before the BuzzFeed article sort of reignited this but you guys never gave up. That's remarkable. So I honor all of you and I'm glad to see this is going to be here, not so far from that sidewalk, not so far from where Sally walked with me all those years ago. So with that I'd like to introduce Bob Dale, her son, for a few words. Nice to see all of you again. All come on up. You can do it. I didn't expect this, but I want to thank all the St. Joseph's riders. I mean, you guys have done something amazing. I mean, it's, you know, my mother, like Sam was just saying, she would avoid coming up into this area altogether. She hated, you know, coming even past this place. I remember when we were younger, me and my sister, we came up here and my father drove to Battery Park and she wanted to make an attempt to go look at the orphanage. And we got to the park and she's like, I don't want to go any further. My father tried to press her. She was like, absolutely not. So she never came up here until she was with Sam. I mean, that in itself, just walking by a sidewalk that she walked on and having this here, it's pretty amazing. I want to thank everyone and let's enjoy this. All right, thank you. Okay, so this is the time when we're going to hang the plaques. The Burlington City and Parks are here to help folks do that. We're going to start with hanging salleys. And Dan is here to help with that. And enjoy some refreshments and drinks. And thank you so much for being here. This is really very powerful and meaningful to all of us. We really appreciate all of you and all your hard work and everything. Thank you. So just as we transition to this part of the hanging, I want to do a quick acknowledgement of Sam and Mark who have been working tirelessly on the coordination of the logistics of how to make this memorial work. And Sam, so yeah, thank you guys for the behind-the-scenes work to do that. Worth acknowledging.