March 23, 2007
DEAR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS,
As you know, several weeks ago marked the Fourteenth Anniversary of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. As part of our expanding 9/11 Living Memorial project, we have begun to assemble a tribute page commemorating those who were lost, and honoring those who survived or risked their lives on February 26, 1993. All those affected by the 1993 bombing are invited to participate in this exciting endeavor. Please see below for how to submit a photograph or story.
All of us at VOICES are looking forward to the 9/11 Living Memorial workshop next Saturday, March 31st in Ridgewood, New Jersey. 9/11 family members, survivors and rescue workers are invited to attend the workshop. Please bring any items you would like to include in the archive, or just join us to learn more about the project. Please contact our office if you are interested in attending.
In closing, I want to thank all those who submitted testimony to the Senate health committee on their experiences post-9/11. For those who would still like to submit testimony for the record, submissions will be accepted through next week. As I have learned firsthand, personal stories, more than anything else, motivate change in Washington. Your participation is vital in securing sufficient funding for short and long-term healthcare benefits for those harmed by 9/11 and its aftermath. Information on how to submit testimony is detailed below. As always, the best to you and your family.
Warm regards,
Mary Fetchet
Founding Director
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| VOICES PROGRAMS AND EVENTS |
9/11 Living Memorial Workshop in Ridgewood, NJ
 Thanks to all who have RSVP'd for next week's 9/11 Living Memorial Workshop in Ridgewood, New Jersey. We look forward to meeting with all of you and helping you begin the process of creating a Family Tribute for your loved one. The program will include a brief presentation on the 9/11 Living Memorial (www.911livingmemorial.org) and opportunities to begin creating a Living Memorial Page with Debbie Westfal, Family Liaison for the 9/11 Living Memorial. Refreshments will be served. Call or email Michelle Doherty toll free (866) 505-3911 to register. To read about a previous workshop held in New Canaan, CT, please click here.
In New Jersey
9/11 Living Memorial Workshop
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Time: 1:30pm to 3:30pm
Location: Ridgewood Public Library, 125 N. Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ
Save the Date: 9/11 Living Memorial Workships in Westchester and Long Island:
In Westchester
9/11 Living Memorial Workshop
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Time: 7pm to 9pm
Location: Larchmont Yacht Club
1 Woodbine Avenue,
Larchmont, NY
In Long Island
9/11 Living Memorial Workshop
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Two sessions: 12:30pm to 3pm
and 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Location: WTC Family Center
2277 Grand Avenue,
Baldwin, NY
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9/11 Living Memorial Feature |
1993 WTC Bombing Commemorated in 9/11 Living Memorial
 This year marked the Fourteenth Anniversary of the first attack on the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993. The 9/11 Living Memorial was founded to honor the lives and stories of the 1993 attack as well as those of September 11th. We are proud to debut our new page with information on the six victims of the attacks and the memorials built to honor them. The original memorial for the 1993 victims (destroyed on 9/11) is shown at left. Click to visit the 1993 WTC Bombing page for the 9/11 Living Memorial.
VOICES hopes to add stories of those who survived the 1993 attacks to the page. Please contact Debbie Westfal at (203) 966-3911 if you are interested in sharing your experience on February 26, 1993 with the 9/11 Living Memorial
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| VOICES FOR KIDS UPDATE |
New Study Shows Kids Affected by 9/11 Facing Grief and Stress
Children who lost a parent on Sept. 11 are 10 times as likely to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder as other children according to a new study by researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The number of psychiatric problems suffered by the children more than doubled after a parent died in the 2001 terrorist attacks and nearly 75% have had psychological problems for years after the attacks according to the study. Forty-five children bereaved on 9/11 and 34 non-bereaved whose average age was 9 were followed for 2 years. The researched found that 30% of the 9/11 kids suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder compared to only 3% in the control group.
According to Dr. Cynthia R. Pfeffer, lead researcher on the study, 9/11 kids with anxiety disorders often had "intrusive thoughts" about the death of their parents and nightmares and felt numb and closed off, as quoted in Associated Press coverage. The study also tested the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the children by taking swabs of their saliva and found elevated levels throughout the two-year period in most of the grieving children. "I think this kind of loss, which was very traumatic, sudden, unexpected, creates intense responses, perhaps similar to other kinds of highly traumatic losses like by suicide, car accidents, murder. These are very stressful losses, and we’re still figuring out how the bereavement process may be experienced differently than losing a parent from illness, for example," Dr. Pfeffer is quoted in Newsweek coverage.
 The researchers recommend continuing the study to monitor longer-term mental health effects. But Dr. Pfeffer said the study became overwhelming for some of the grieving families and many would opt out of an exteded study. The study will be published in next month's editions of the journal Biological Psychiatry. It was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.
Visit the Caregiver's Section of the VOICES for Kids website for articles and weblinks on how to care for a child suffering from anxiety or grief.
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| EVENTS AND INFORmation FOR THE 9/11 COMMUNITY |
Action Alert: Save the Survivor's Staircase
VOICES supports the ongoing effort to preserve the Survivor's Staircase. We are proud to pass along this action alert from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has named the Staircase one of America's "11 Most Endangered Places."
Take Action today to Save the Survivors' Staircase!
 After months of hard work and consultation we have a window of opportunity to move forward with efforts to save the Survivors' Staircase -- the only remaining above-ground element of the World Trade Center AND move forward with the redevelopment plans for Lower Manhattan.
New York Governor Spitzer's administration and the Port Authority of NY & NJ have been working to explore moving the Stairs to a temporary home so that construction can move forward. Please take a moment today to encourage them to continue their efforts.
Two Easy Ways You Can Help!
1. E-mail Governor Spitzer to thank him for his administration's willingness to listen to the public on the issue of how we can save the stairs while still moving forward with redevelopment of the World Trade Center site.
2. E-mail the Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to urge them to continue their efforts to move the stairs to a temporary site until a permanent home can be found.
To read more about this exciting development and send your emails, click here.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Let's Get It Built!
A Special Evening to Benefit the Pentagon Memorial Fund
Time: 5 pm
Location: Brion’s Grille, 10621 Braddock Rd., Fairfax, VA 22032
More Info: www.pentagonmemorial.net
 Come for dinner, drinks, silent auction and classic rock n’ roll with “Johnny Can’t Read” at BRION’s GRILLE. Silent auction and a percentage of food and beverage proceeds will be donated to help build the Pentagon Memorial (shown in a rendering at left).
Stop by anytime!! Dinner from 5pm on Silent Auction begins at 7:30pm Band plays from 9:30pm till closing. www.brionsgrille.com ; www.johnnycantread.com
Click here to visit the 9/11 Living Memorial page for the Pentagon Memorial. Please inform VOICES about any future memorial fundraising events in your area by calling Debbie Westfal at (203) 966-3911.
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| 9/11 HEALTH ISSUES UPDATE |
Senate Committee Hold Hearings on Federal Funds for 9/11 Health
Mayor Mike Bloomberg and a panel of experts told a Senate committee this week that the city would need at least $153 million a year to sustain the health monitoring and treatment programs for workers suffering heath effects from their work at the WTC site.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Commitee, chaired by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) also heard from a first responder who has grown sick because of exposure to toxic substances after the 9/11 attacks. Full transcripts and streaming video of the hearing are available on the HELP committee website.
Meanwhile, on the House side, The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (H.R. 1638) was put forward by a bipartisan caucus working together on WTC health. The bill would extend long-term medical monitoring to everyone exposed to Ground Zero toxins and federally-funded health care to anyone who is sick as a result. Additionally, the bill would reopen the federal Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) for sick and injured 9/11 responders and lower Manhattan residents, workers and schoolchildren. Read more in a press release by bill co-sponsors Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Vito Fossella (R-NY), or view a PDF copy of the proposed legislation.
The hearing was called as part of the HELP Committee’s deliberations on the “9/11 Heroes Health Improvement Act of 2007” sponsored by Senators including Hillary Clinton, (D-NY), and Sen. Kennedy. The bill would establish a federal grant program to pay for uninsured and under-insured individuals with health effects resulting from the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Click to read more about the bill in THOMAS. Other co-sponsors include José Serrano (D-NY), Christopher Shays (R-CT), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), John McHugh (R-NY), John Hall (D-NY), Michael McNulty (D-NY), Joe Crowley (D-NY), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), and Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI). The bill is named in honor of one of the first people to succumb to the interrelated medical condtions know as "WTC Illness."
 Mayor Bloomberg also asked that the 9/11 Victim's Compensation Fund be reopened to settle lawsuits against the city and contractors like Con Ed.
"We don't want to leave the city or contractors with open liability," he said. First responders might be more hesitant to help in the event of another disaster "if liabilities go on forever," Bloomberg is quoted in United Press International coverage. He is shown testifying at left with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY).
Though the panel was largely sympathetic, Republican members sought confirmation that the level of funding was appropriate and the city could fully account for the federal dollars spent. Senator Michael B. Enzi (R-WY), the committee’s ranking member, said the mayor’s request “adds up to quite a bit of money.” He added, “I will be giving you a request to more carefully delineate and more concisely delineate the dollars that you’re talking about,” as quoted in New York Times coverage. Mayor Bloomberg responded that "every single penny" would be accounted for.
Thanks to all those who responded to VOICES call for submissions of testimony on the effect working at or living near Ground Zero had on you and your family. The committee will still accept submissions until the end of next week. If you would like to record your experiences in the Congressional Record, click here for more information.
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