May 09, 2008

Dear Families and Friends,

As we celebrate Mother’s Day I’d like to share this poem as a tribute to the many ways they touch our lives.

What is a Mother’s Love?

A mother’s love is many things.
She is a teacher and a friend,
someone to guide you through right and wrong,
someone to listen and understand.

She can comfort you like no other,
holding you in her arms.
She can fill your spirit with confidence and encourage your unsure heart.
She can bring a smile to your saddened face,
wipe away your tears,
love you regardless of the faults you have,
and stand by you throughout the years.

A mother’s love is many things,
and one thing is quite sure:
a mother’s love is special,
for no one can love like her.

- T. L. Nash

All of us at VOICES send our best wishes for a wonderful weekend.

Warm Regards,

Mary and the Voices Staff

VOICES Programs and events

VOICES Always Remember Fundraising Gala

Reservations for our fundraising gala are pouring in! Space is limited, so please reserve your seats or table as soon as you can. Call the Voices office at (203) 966-3911 to make your reservation by phone.

New Parents Teleconference Support Group

VOICES launched an additional parents teleconference support group at the end of April.  The group meets every other Tuesday at 11:00 AM EST and is facilitated by Judy Stotz, LPC.  If you or someone you know is having a difficult time following the loss of a child on September 11, 2001 or wants to connect with others who experienced this loss, contact Michelle Doherty at 866-505-3911 or mdoherty@voicesofsept11.org.

9/11 Living memorial Feature

Margaret Quinn Orloske

This week, Voices of September 11th pays special tribute to the mothers who died on 9/11. Our Living Memorial feature celebrates the life of Margaret Quinn Orloske, from Windsor, CT, a Vice President of Knowledge Management at Marsh McLennan on the 96th floor of One WTC.

Margaret made the two and half hour commute each day from Nutmeg House, her recreated 18th century home in Windsor, to the World Trade Center. She loved early American history and cooking, and established a family tradition of preparing Thanksgiving dinner on the open hearth at Nutmeg House, using cast iron pots, trivets and a brick oven. And she loved her husband of 26 years, Duane, and her son Stephen, who was 19 years old when his mother died on 9/11. She was proud of the man her son was growing up to be.

Margaret's 9/11 Living Memorial pages pay tribute to a warm, compassionate and caring woman, a careful gardener who tended to her friends and family and watched them grow and blossom. Her pages tell the story of a wife, mother and a talented professional who is dearly missed by all who knew her. She is remembered through the Margaret Orloske/Marten Olsen Memorial Scholarship to support graduate library students, and the Margaret Quinn Orloske Fund, which supports ongoing educational programs in Open Hearth Cooking and Gardening in historic Deerfield, Massachusetts.

To visit Margaret's Living Memorial Page click here.

EVENTS AND INFORMATION FOR THE 9/11 COMMUNITY

Zadroga Added to NYPD Memorial

The name of Detective James Zadroga, who developed lung problems after working in the ruins at ground zero, has been added to the NYPD's wall of heroes memorial in the lobby of police headquarters. He was one of eight officers added to the wall who died of 9/11 related illnesses. "I just hope that maybe they won't forget now," said Joseph Zadroga, who still wants his son's name listed on the Sept. 11 memorial. Read the full story in the Associated Press.

New York's Mount Sinai Medical Center has conducted a study of 70,000 workers at the World Trade Center site. 85 per cent of those in the study have reported some kind of respiratory problem.

Hospitals in Major US Cities Not Ready for Terrorist Attack

A survey carried out by by the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform says that hospitals in US cities at greatest risk of a terrorist attack are ill equipped to handle emergency care if such an attack were to take place. The survey reviewed emergency room capacity in five cities considered at greatest risk of a terrorist attack —Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston — as well as Denver and Minneapolis, where the nominating conventions will be held later this year.

In his opening statement before two days of Committee hearings on the lack of hospital emergency surge capacity, Chairman Henry Waxman said that what the survey revealed was "truly alarming." The 34 hospitals surveyed did not have sufficient ER capacity to treat a sudden influx of victims from a terrorist bombing. The hospitals had virtually no free intensive care unit beds to treat the most seriously injured casualties. And the hospitals did not have enough regular inpatient beds to handle the less seriously injured victims.

"If a terrorist attack had occurred in Washington, D.C. or Los Angeles on March 25 when we did our survey, the consequences could have been catastrophic. The emergency care systems were stretched to the breaking point and had no capacity to respond to a surge of victims,"said Mr. Waxman.

Read more about the Committee proceedings here.