WILLOWBROOK NO MORE!

Recently it was my privilege to go out to Westhampton Beach to my daughter’s day program and do an evaluation of the program. I met three lovely ladies who took me through the facility and answered all my questions.

In the aftermath of Willowbrook so many years ago, people woke up to the fact that anyone with a physical and mental disability was a human being, suffering inside, not an animal left to die at best. If you are unfamiliar with Willowbrook, Willowbrook State School was a state-supported institution for children with intellectual disabilities located in the Willowbrook neighborhood of Staten Island. It took an expose by Geraldo Rivera.

I won’t bore with the technical aspects of my visit, but I will tell you this: there is nothing better than visiting my people, it renews the spirit, reminds you that we are all here together, and that the human spirit, when uncorrupted, is beautiful.

I met a man about in his mid 40’s, somewhat slight that I will call Chris. Chris was a participant in one of the three programs that were designed for the population that inhabit the building during the day. He quietly came over to me, and reached for my hand, telling me he was Chris, and asked me my name. I said hello and took his hand and shook it, and when I looked into his eyes, it was like looking into a monitor that revealed an inner soul, filled with a lot of love, curiosity and perhaps a fear of rejection. But the experience moved me because I realize how painful life can be for some of us. He invited me back to visit again.

THE GUYS

Then there are the staff members who are so dedicated, filled with creative enthusiasm and love for those they serve doing their jobs. Maria, a middle-aged woman was creating a kimono, teaching the guys about Japan, and planning activities centered around the experience. The guys are taught to research a subject like Egypt, see films and do small projects about the subject, then they all went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to visit the Egyptian exhibit, one of the best in the world. There was Tony, a gentleman in his late fifties or early sixties,  who took his classroom and covered the walls with black paper, pictures of different stars in the movies, and music field, along with pictures of participants pasted onto stars and all hung on the wall. He was teaching about the various stars who had adversity in their lives, and how they overcame it and succeeded.

As I went throughout the building, these are the staff people I met, dedicated and loving their jobs.

MY DAUGHTER ELLEN

Room 8 is tucked away in a corner of the building, it sits alone because the people that occupy the room are the most challenged, can’t deal with change of confusion and like the other participants at the facility, can’t orderly move from classroom to classroom. When the door opened, there sitting in a chair near the door was Ellen, my daughter, who saw me, jumped out of her seat and came over hugging me and getting very excited. She grabbed me at that point, and started pushing me to take her out, she thought she was going home, to eat, and she was ready!

I interviewed a few participants, and then had a final recap meeting with the staff, and I commented on the program and staff and the whole feeling of joy one can easily find. I asked her how these great programs come about and she said: “They come about because these people are entitled to be treated with dignity, and they are someone’s child.”