January 05, 2007

DEAR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS,

On behalf of all of us at VOICES I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. We hope your holiday was safe and enjoyable, and that you had time to enjoy the season with family and friends. The New Year is always a time to reflect on the past year and plan for the coming year.

I am very proud of VOICES accomplishments in 2006. Our team of mental health professionals have worked to address the evolving needs of those impacted through individual consultation and support groups. Our annual events – the September 10th Information Forum, September 11th Commemorative Luncheon and the Remembrance Service at St. Paul’s Chapel were a success. With your input, we redesigned our website to provide information and resources to the 9/11 community and educate the public about preparedness and important public policy reforms. Most recently we launched Voices for Kids, www.voicesofsept11forkids.org, a great new resource for our younger members and caregivers.

This year we collaborated with September’s Mission and launched the 9/11 Living Memorial, www.911livingmemorial.org, a web-based digital archive that tells the story of 9/11. Several hundred family members have started the process of creating a page in memory of their loved ones by providing photographs, eulogies and other pertinent information. Survivors, rescue workers and artisans have also made important additions to the 9/11 Living Memorial, which will grow and evolve over time. Our goal is to incorporate this important project into the WTC Memorial Museum.

Looking ahead to this year we are excited about our plans for 2007. We remain committed to providing support programs and VOICES annual events for the 9/11 community – families, survivors, rescue/recovery and cleanup workers. Our website will continue to evolve and provide information. With your help the 9/11 Living Memorial Project will grow and evolve over time to proudly commemorate the lives of those who perished and accurately tell the story of 9/11 for generations to come.

Finally, we remain focused on promoting the 9/11 Commission Recommendations through our advocacy efforts in Washington, DC. Next week, I will join other family members to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on the status of the recommendations. I remain optimistic that the new Congress has renewed their commitment to make the safety of our nation a priority. As always, I encourage family members to attend the hearing or view it on C-SPAN. More details are below.

We hope this is the beginning of a healthy and happy New Year for you all. Please don’t hesitate to call us if we can be of service to you,

Mary Fetchet

Founding Director

Voices Launches New Website For Kids

VOICES is pleased to announce the debut of our enhanced VOICES FOR KIDS website. This new information resource features art, writing, books, links, and resources geared to our VOICES members of all ages. The children’s website expands our outreach and continues VOICES commitment to the youngest members of the global 9/11 family. The website provides a separate space for children (age 8-12), teens (age 13-18) and caregivers (parents, teachers, and professionals) to post creative art and writing, share stories, obtain information, and join a community of people whose lives were impacted by 9/11. The Voices for Kids website (www.voicesofsept11forkids.org) has specific categories with content targeted to individuals of different ages. Visitors will find:

• Comfort Corner: a place to submit art and writing, and post a scrapbook of memories
• In The Know: providing information about preparedness and health and a place to ask questions
• Cool Stuff and Resources: with links for books, games, news, and resources
• A calendar of events and announcements

With the addition of the children’s website, VOICES fills a need to keep all citizens – from our youngest to those caring for them – educated, able to communicate their thoughts and feelings, and reminded that they are not alone in a post 9/11 world. Visit VOICES FOR KIDS today and please help us spread the word to VOICES younger members.

Interfaith Remembrance Service at St. Paul's, December 16, 2006

Thanks to all who made this year's event at St. Paul's another great success. VOICES has created a webpage with information on the service and a slide show of photographs from photographer Mathieu Asselin and VOICES.

Click to visit our page and learn more about this new holiday tradition from VOICES and St. Paul's Chapel.

Songs Dedicated to the Memory of 9/11

This week we are proud to spotlight some of the moving musical responses to 9/11 that we have begun to collect in the "9/11 Reflections" section of the 9/11 Living Memorial. We recently added two wonderful ballads to our collection and hope you will have a listen. "Teardrop in the Rain" and "Feel the Rain" from the collection "Project 9/11" have a country flavor. Both songs were written by Randy Hyden of Tulsa, OK and performed by Julie Burton of Nashville, TN. We have also added "I'm Leaving on the Light" written and performed by William Bates of T21 Media. Please click to visit the Songs and Poems section of the 9/11 Living Memorial to download these songs as MP3 files.

Thanks to these performers as well as Tom Chelston and everybody else who has offered their talents to the wider community. This audio archive will continue to grow with your help. To add a song of your own or to direct us to other 9/11 songs please contact Debbie Westfal at (203) 966-3911 or by email.

Jan 5 - Remains search closes WTC road to construction truck traffic - A road being searched for human remains from Sept. 11 at the World Trade Center site will be closed to traffic — rerouting trucks taking supplies into ground zero — until the search is over, officials said Thursday (Associated Press)

Jan 5 - 9 human bones found in ongoing search of World Trade Center site, Biggest more than 4 inches - Forensic anthropologists found five of the bones while sifting through debris from the World Trade Center site at a Brooklyn facility, said Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the city medical examiner's office. Workers also found four bones while digging up a service road on the western edge of the site, she said (Associated Press)

Jan 4 - Spitzer promises end to WTC 'gridlock' - Calling the delayed rebuilding of the World Trade Center site a "monument to government gridlock," Gov. Eliot Spitzer yesterday pledged to aggressively push the project forward. Spitzer said it is unacceptable that progress "is only starting to be made" more than five years after the Sept. 11 attacks (NY Newsday).

Jan 2 - 13 cities better than New York in emergency communications study - Thirteen U.S. cities were rated better than New York in a study of emergency communications, according to draft portions of a federal report (Associated Press)

Tuesday, January 9, 2007
United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs Hearing on Ensuring Full Implementation of the 9/11 Commission’s Recommendations

Time: 9:30 am
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Rm. 342, Washington, D.C.

Mary Fetchet and other family members will testify. Check TV listings to see if the hearing will air on CSPAN or CSPAN2

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Health Seminars Regarding post 9/11 Health and Environmental Issues at September Space
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Location: September Space Lower Manhattan
11 Broadway, 11th Floor (between Exchange Place and Bowling Green), New York, NY

Sponsored by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. Perera will present findings from the on-going WTC Pregnancy Study. For more information or to RSVP for programs, please contact Laura Horowitz at rsvp@worldcares.org or call 212-563-7570 ext. 20. http://www.worldcares.org

Sunday, January 14, 2007
Multi-Family Group for Latino Clean-up and Recovery Workers at September Space
Time: 11:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Location: September Space Midtown Manhattan
520 8th Avenue, 11th Floor (between 36th and 37th streets), New York, NY

Peer discussions with licensed facilitators, relax and rejuvenate body work, creative arts for children, lunch and refreshments at September Space.

For more information or to RSVP for programs, please email rsvp@worldcares.org or call Heather Anderson at 646-289-3098. http://www.worldcares.org

WTC Workers Register Now for Workers' Compensation Eligibility

Attention 9/11 Rescue and Recovery and Clean-Up Workers: The New York State Workers’ Compensation Law has just been changed to help you register to file a claim for workers’ compensation if you have a 9/11- related illness. The change also applies to workers and volunteers who are not sick, but who may become sick in the future because they were exposed to the toxic air after 9/11.

The first step is to apply for registration as a bona-fide WTC worker. Visit the NYCOSH website to download an application form, or get a form directly from the NY State Workers' Compensation Board. Then you must fill out the form, have it notarized and mail in into the Compensation Board. A Fact sheet provides FAQ's and more information, or you can call 1-866-WTC-2556 to request a form. THIS FORM IS TO REGISTER, NOT TO FILE A CLAIM. YOU MUST REGISTER NOW TO PRESERVE YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A CLAIM AT ANY TIME IN THE FUTURE.

The deadline for registering is August 14, 2007. If you do not register before the deadline, you will never be able to collect workers’ compensation if you develop a 9/11-related illness later. Thousands of people who participated in rescue, recovery or cleanup work after 9/11 are now sick. Many more may become sick as a result of exposure to contaminated dust and smoke. The New York State Workers’ Compensation Law has been changed to allow someone who was exposed, but is not sick, to register. Registering now will protect your right to file a workers’ compensation claim if you become sick at any time in the future. The law also allows anyone who already filed a claim – but was turned down because the claim was filed too late – to re-file. If you do not register and are sick or become sick later, you will not be able to file or re-file a claim. Workers’ compensation pays all the medical expenses for a sickness or an injury that is work-related. It also pays two-thirds of your average weekly wage up to $400 a week if you cannot work because of work-related sickness or injury. Even if you are now healthy, but were exposed to contaminated air after 9/11, you must register now with the Workers’ Compensation Board to protect your right to file a claim if and when you become sick.

Negroponte Resigns as Director of National Intelligence

From the Updated "Intelligence Czar" Voices for Change Page:

DNI Negroponte abruptly resigned from his post in early January 2007 to return to the State Department. Some intelligence experts said that Negroponte, a career diplomat, was never fully comfortable in the role of intelligence chief. He has faced criticism for leaving the nascent office and perpetuating the uncertainty that has pervaded the U.S. Intelligence Community since 9/11. 9/11 Commission Vice-Chair Lee Hamilton commented: "I'm disappointed that both he and [Deputy DNI Michael V.] Hayden have left. I think we are beginning to see better sharing of information in the intelligence community, and I also think it's a work in progress and an awful lot needs to be done. It is therefore a little unsettling to me that your two top leaders move out of the DNI office within a matter of months." The deputy job held by Hayden, who became head of the CIA in May, remains unfilled. President Bush has nominated retired Vice-Admiral John Michael (Mike) McConnell as the new DNI... Read More

Jan 5 - Negroponte shift is ruffling feathers - The abrupt departure of John D. Negroponte as the nation's spy chief prompted angry responses from Capitol Hill and triggered new debate Thursday over whether a position created to fix the nation's intelligence problems is itself fundamentally flawed (Los Angeles Times)

Jan 5 - Man in the News : John Michael McConnell, a Member of the Club - In choosing Mike McConnell to be director of national intelligence, President Bush is turning again to a steady intelligence professional who first achieved prominence during his father’s administration (New York Times)

Jan 3 - Democrats Plan First 100 Hours, Give or Take a Speech - House Democrats intend to kick off their new regime with a 100-hour legislative blitz that would allow them to post a series of quick victories before President Bush even delivers his State of the Union address toward the end of this month (New York Times)