Latest / Aired Out / Alice Goltz - her story of a failed system and a mother with disabilities who lost her child as a result.

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Alice Goltz - her story of a failed system and a mother with disabilities who lost her child as a result. · Aired Out

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I have interviewed thousands of people. This lady who was
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: sitting next to me is one interview that has always
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: been probably one of the biggest takeaways for me. I've
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: had conversations with people that have had a great impact
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: on me and ones that I will never forget. Alice
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Goltz is probably right up there, definitely in the top three.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: And I am so honored to have you here in
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  Speaker 1: my studio. Alice, this is incredible that you're here.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: We met two years ago at a cafe and we
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: sat outdoors and we had a conversation about your story
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: and your life that struck me so deeply. And as
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: I said last night when we left that day, when
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: we left our conversation chatting, I don't even remember the
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: drive home. What you told me blew my mind. What
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  Speaker 1: you told me should be made into a book, It
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: should be made into a documentary. In my opinion. A
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  Speaker 1: lot of people know you, Alice, A lot of people.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: Some people know you, they just know your face as
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: the crossing guard lady in Montpellier. Is that true?
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Yes?
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  Speaker 1: And how long did you do that? For?
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  Speaker 2: About ten years?
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  Speaker 1: That's amazing, amazing. Right there by the library Okay, So
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  Speaker 1: I don't even know where to begin with with your story.
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  Speaker 1: But let's let's start out by by saying you you
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  Speaker 1: have what some would call, in this ridiculous society that
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  Speaker 1: we live in, a disability. I call it inability because
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  Speaker 1: you are such a unique person who understands others so
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  Speaker 1: so well. You have one of the biggest hearts that
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  Speaker 1: I have ever known in anyone that I have ever met.
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  Speaker 1: Tell us about this so called disability that that you have.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I have.
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  Speaker 3: I have dystonia where my muscles get tight. I also
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  Speaker 3: have an intellectual disability, but it really doesn't affect me.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: Right, is that it?
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  Speaker 2: Yes?
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  Speaker 1: So what is how does that? How does that? How
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  Speaker 1: does that play into into your life with like cognition?
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  Speaker 2: Yes?
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  Speaker 1: Okay, all right? Is that something that that is a
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  Speaker 1: constant struggle for for you every day? That does that
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  Speaker 1: prohibit you from from doing certain things?
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  Speaker 4: No?
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  Speaker 1: Okay? Wow? Do you work?
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  Speaker 2: Yes?
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  Speaker 1: Do you enjoy work?
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  Speaker 2: Yes?
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  Speaker 1: You are so active in your community. You're you do everything,
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  Speaker 1: You're everywhere, voices and choices, You're You're involved with Washington
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  Speaker 1: County Mental Health. You you there's so many things that
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  Speaker 1: you do. You've been involved with the legislature too. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: you're a very outspoken individual. What's your story? Your story
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  Speaker 1: begins at the beginning, of course. But in two thousand
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  Speaker 1: and five, you got married. Yes, okay, what happened.
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  Speaker 3: In two thousand and five, I had got married, and
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  Speaker 3: then in two thousand and six things really got really
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  Speaker 3: bad and I had a breakdown.
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  Speaker 1: Okay with the marriage, Yes, okay, relatable to many. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: you also got pregnant.
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  Speaker 3: And then I came back to Vermont and I got pregnant,
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  Speaker 3: and to September two thousand and six.
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  Speaker 1: And then what happened? And well, you had you had
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  Speaker 1: some great friends that were helping you through your pregnancy. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: Alan is one of them.
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  Speaker 2: Alan was one of my friends and my friend Judy.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Uh, not an easy pregnancy.
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  Speaker 3: No, because I had I had golfstones, so I couldn't
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  Speaker 3: get them removed before my baby was born. So then
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  Speaker 3: when I had when I went to the hospital, they
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  Speaker 3: told me I can't get the gallstones removed because my
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  Speaker 3: baby had to I had to wait for my baby
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  Speaker 3: to come.
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  Speaker 1: Out, Okay with the dystonia. Uh, what was the actual
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  Speaker 1: birth like? Not easy?
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  Speaker 2: It was.
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  Speaker 3: The birth was was very hard. I had first they
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  Speaker 3: had me try to push my daughter out, which was
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  Speaker 3: hard as I have dystonia and my muscles get tight,
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  Speaker 3: so that didn't work. Then they had they try to
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  Speaker 3: they try to scoop, they try to use like a
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  Speaker 3: suction section and that didn't work neither. And then they
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  Speaker 3: finally did the C section.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, extremely traumatic. Yes, again, I think that plenty of
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  Speaker 1: folks listening can relate to to this. What you what
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  Speaker 1: you're talking about? Then? What happened though?
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  Speaker 2: Then then I had my daughter?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, the next the next day, two men had came
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  Speaker 3: into my hospital room. Stay in that DCF was taking
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  Speaker 3: care of my taking custody of my daughter. So that's
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  Speaker 3: when I got in contact with my brother who was
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  Speaker 3: a lawyer down in New York City, and.
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  Speaker 2: He told me what to do. He told me to
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  Speaker 2: get in touch with.
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  Speaker 3: The disability the Disability Law Project at that time, and
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  Speaker 3: then they they had got in contact with the courts
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  Speaker 3: and then and then there was emergency hearing.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, the very next day after you gave birth, Yes,
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  Speaker 1: two men from DCF came in and they they spoke
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  Speaker 1: to you and said we're taking custody of your baby.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, And I asked them who was making this charge
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  Speaker 3: that they can give me any like slip or anything,
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  Speaker 3: and they were they refused to do that.
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  Speaker 1: You must have been beside yourself.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was very very sad.
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  Speaker 1: How did you?
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  Speaker 2: I didn't know what to do.
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  Speaker 1: What happened with your your contact to the disability law projects?
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  Speaker 1: And I'm hoping that someone was able to be there
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  Speaker 1: and help you make these phone calls right away? Did
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  Speaker 1: you call the police? Did you call anyone here in
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  Speaker 1: in Vermont?
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  Speaker 5: No?
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  Speaker 3: I didn't call anybody. I just got I had. I'd
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  Speaker 3: called my brother and I did call the grand the
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  Speaker 3: father's grandmother.
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  Speaker 1: What did they say to you?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I don't remember what the grandmother said, but but
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  Speaker 3: the brother had. But myro that had told me what
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  Speaker 3: to do to get in contact with these people.
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  Speaker 1: So you you basically got a court hearing, yes, okay?
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  Speaker 1: And you went to that.
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  Speaker 6: No.
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  Speaker 3: I didn't go to the court hearing because I was
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  Speaker 3: in the hospital.
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  Speaker 2: So I was like over the phone.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, okay.
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  Speaker 3: And my my husband at that time had went to
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  Speaker 3: the hearing and the and during the hearing that his
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  Speaker 3: mother was was supposed to come up for like a
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  Speaker 3: mom because she was deemed responsible for the baby.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, were you at any point given any kind of
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  Speaker 1: parenting assessment.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, I did have apparent assessment with doctor Susan. You
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  Speaker 3: want twice I took. I took even before my daughter
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  Speaker 3: was born. I took courses at a right, trying to
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  Speaker 3: remember the name of it. It's an organization right here.
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  Speaker 1: In Vermont where parenting courses.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I took parenting courses. I took Lama's courses.
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  Speaker 1: All while you were pregnant. Yes, completely utterly committed to
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  Speaker 1: being a mom. Yes, obviously. Then what did what did
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  Speaker 1: doctor Susan say about your assessment?
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  Speaker 3: The first the first assessment that we had. She she
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  Speaker 3: just monitored us to see how I be, how I
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: how I be able to be a parent. Then when
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  Speaker 3: I came back to the state of Vermont, she evaluated
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  Speaker 3: me again and her assessment had shown that I can
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  Speaker 3: be a parent with assistance. Where she found a program
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  Speaker 3: down in Massachusetts. It's called the Positive Paring Program. Okay,
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  Speaker 3: where I where me and my daughter would be, where
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  Speaker 3: it would be somewhere that me and my daughter would
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  Speaker 3: live at together all right.
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  Speaker 1: For a certain amount of time. Yeah, okay, did you
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  Speaker 1: do that?
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  Speaker 2: No?
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  Speaker 1: Okay? How come? What happened?
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  Speaker 3: What had happened was that DCFM Burlington had roadblocked then
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  Speaker 3: and we went a day before a court and there
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  Speaker 3: was no more openings.
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  Speaker 1: Wow.
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  Speaker 3: But the but DCF and Bradborough, if we did get
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  Speaker 3: into our get into that program, we would they would
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  Speaker 3: be willing to take our case. And DCF was was
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  Speaker 3: offered a five thousand dollars grants if we got into
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  Speaker 3: that program.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, what happened.
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  Speaker 3: They wrote d CF and and Pearlington had roadblocked and
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  Speaker 3: they waited the last day and there was no more space.
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  Speaker 1: So then what happened after that? Your your husband's mother
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  Speaker 1: was supposed to stay in Vermont for about a month.
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  Speaker 1: Did she do that?
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  Speaker 2: No, she didn't. She didn't stay.
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  Speaker 3: So that's when Maya turned had me and my daughter
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  Speaker 3: go into foster care.
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  Speaker 1: Together together to live with other people.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, I did whatever I can just to just to
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  Speaker 3: be with my daughter.
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  Speaker 1: There you go, So where did you go? Where? Where?
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  Speaker 1: Where did you go into into foster care together?
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  Speaker 3: The first home we went to to to stay with
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  Speaker 3: a with a family in sant Almonds, Okay, and that
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  Speaker 3: was kind of hard. It was very hard.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, did you feel like, uh, this this family was
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  Speaker 1: was getting a little too involved. Maybe I just.
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  Speaker 3: Felt I felt like the person was taking control of
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  Speaker 3: my me and my baby.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so then you were able to go and live
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  Speaker 1: with your friend Judy. Yes, what was what was that like?
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  Speaker 1: What was that like?
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  Speaker 3: It was okay, we had to we had to fight,
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  Speaker 3: I had We had to fight for the right for
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  Speaker 3: Judy to be able to live with her as she
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  Speaker 3: had MS. And it was kind it was okay, but
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  Speaker 3: it was a little hard.
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  Speaker 1: Too, Yeah, because she had children. Also, no, she.
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  Speaker 2: Didn't have children. She didn't have children.
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  Speaker 1: So did she have to become like a registered foster parent.
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  Speaker 3: I'm not sure she was a registered foster parent or
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  Speaker 3: how they went about that.
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  Speaker 1: And you then went to you had to move out
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  Speaker 1: of state.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, we moved. We did move out of state. A
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  Speaker 3: friend of friends had came up to Vermont that said
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  Speaker 3: that it said she'd be willing to have me and
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  Speaker 3: my daughter stay with her and her two children. So
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  Speaker 3: first we lived in Maryland and then we lived in Virginia.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, same family, the same family. What was your ex
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  Speaker 1: husband saying about this at the time.
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  Speaker 3: He was not he was not involved when we went
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  Speaker 3: to Maryland and Virginia. He was basically at the picture.
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  Speaker 3: After five weeks, okay, and that's when we went to
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  Speaker 3: live to live at all these different foster get Walsta homes.
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  Speaker 1: So you're flying, you're flying around court hearings in Vermont
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  Speaker 1: from Virginia, from Maryland. You're flying with your baby.
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  Speaker 2: Well.
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  Speaker 3: With with my baby. When we had to live down
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  Speaker 3: in Maryland, we for we we took a.
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  Speaker 2: Train down there. But you know, mm hmm. But when.
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  Speaker 3: When we when we found out that when I found
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  Speaker 3: out that my daughter was gonna be taken back to
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  Speaker 3: Vermont because it was two quart hearings, I was never
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  Speaker 3: on the court hearings in this in the state of Vermont.
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  Speaker 3: So when Virginia had found out that d and Vermont
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  Speaker 3: was taken temporary custody, was was taking custody. They told me,
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  Speaker 3: you go back to wherever your daughter, your daughter, You
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  Speaker 3: follow your daughter wherever she goes. And that's when I
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  Speaker 3: flew on two airplanes to.
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  Speaker 2: Get back to this state.
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  Speaker 3: And by then my daughter was already placed in this
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  Speaker 3: permanent home. The attorney had asked what visits set up
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  Speaker 3: for the mom and DCF said, no, we didn't know
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  Speaker 3: she was coming. And that's when I and that's when
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  Speaker 3: the first judge gave me five day visits.
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  Speaker 1: Meanwhile, you are also living in Burlington, right.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, I lived on two sides of South Burlington to
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  Speaker 3: get to all my visits. Three days were at DCF
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  Speaker 3: and two days were at the one home.
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  Speaker 1: So you don't drive, no, So how were you getting
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  Speaker 1: back and forth?
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  Speaker 2: I would take the bus.
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  Speaker 3: I would take the bus there sometimes, like when I
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  Speaker 3: was when I went to DCF and Burlington, they were
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  Speaker 3: at they were, they were office now was in Williston,
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  Speaker 3: and they would make me feel horrible, but I would
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  Speaker 3: keep going. But sometimes i'd walk on them. I'd walk
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  Speaker 3: back on South Burlington, back to South Burlington, and I
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  Speaker 3: thank God for keeping me safe.
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  Speaker 1: And those on the road, would you pray well you
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  Speaker 1: were out there that you'd be yes? Safe? You? You
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  Speaker 1: are an example of a mother that will do anything
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  Speaker 1: for her child.
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  Speaker 2: Yes.
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  Speaker 3: And people would ask me, how can you keep going?
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  Speaker 3: And I would tell them I'm mother, will do whatever
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  Speaker 3: whatever she can. Then my rights got got terminated.
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  Speaker 2: Dude.
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  Speaker 1: When and how this was.
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  Speaker 2: In two thousand and nine?
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  Speaker 1: Mm hm.
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  Speaker 3: The other was at the picture but I was still here.
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  Speaker 3: I haven't I haven't followed my daughter. That's why my
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: case was went so long, but they tried so hard
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  Speaker 3: to terminate my princil rights as being a parent. The
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: Law Project, the Disability Law Project, had put something into
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: court saying that they couldn't discriminate and they had to
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: give they had to give some type of services and
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: let's see. But they but the judge, he just was terrible.
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: He had fought with my with my attorney. He left
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  Speaker 3: the bench right after our case. The program that we
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: would have been in the state way the last minute.
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  Speaker 3: The state threatened me that I would never see my
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: daughter again. But by the grace of God, I saw
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  Speaker 3: my daughter. In two thousand and fourteen.
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  Speaker 1: You were walking with a friend in Mount Pillier and
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: you heard someone call your name.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, who was that? It was one of the I
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: called them, one of the I call them guardians, okay,
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: And they they had they had called my.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: Name and they they recognized.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, they recognized me, and they said, April, this is
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  Speaker 3: mommy Alice, Alice, this is April. And we hugged and
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: kissed and it was a happy, sad time because even
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: though they didn't give me a visit, God did. And
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: then the following year, me and my friends we were
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: walking in Mount Pillier and we decided as we saw her,
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: we decided to write a letter to the Council on Disability.
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: I watched d SEE and then they sent Al Jazeera
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: to do a three part story on me, doctor susany
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: On and DCF and that was on al That was
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: on Al Jazeera America.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: Which no longer exists, no longer exists, and that three
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: part series is stunning, It's amazing, and they take a
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: very deep dive into this story. But going back to
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  Speaker 1: twenty fourteen, was this the first time that you had
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: seen your daughter, April, who was born in the month
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: of April, the first time that you had seen her
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: since she was taken from you? Yes, And do you
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: know about how old she was?
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: She was about it's about two and a half.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: Okay, as a crossing guard for ten years, and I'm
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: sorry to ask you this, but I can't imagine being
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: in your shoes and being a crossing guard for a
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: decade seeing all of these beautiful children. What was going
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: through your mind when you were a crossing guard?
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: It was very hard for me, so I would have
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: to take time off. Even with my case with my daughter,
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: we went we also went to the Supreme Court, and
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: the Supreme Court ruled against us.
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  Speaker 2: So we've been separated for so many years.
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: So I finally I was able to have connection with
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: her through letters and pictures. So so she was adopted, Yes.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: By two women in Burlington. Yes, Okay, you were allowed
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: to find out who these individuals are and mail them
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: some things.
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  Speaker 3: I knew who they were because my daughter was placed
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: in this permitent at home already that I was trying
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: to fight against.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: Okay, but.
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: I knew they who they were.
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: So when I finally came back to the state, we
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: had a meeting with them, and they were willing to
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: let me have pictures and letters of my daughter. So
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: I was writing into my daughter for fifteen years, and
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: then I wrote. Then me and my friend, one of
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: my friends, we made a memory book for her. Yes,
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: and then we got I got a letter that they
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: they were going to They looked at it and they're
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: gonna it would be keepstake for my daughter.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm going to show that on the monitor
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: right now so people can can see that, because I've
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: had your permission to do this. So I'm going to
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: put that on the monitor here. This is a memory
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: book that you made.
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: Yes, okay, and my friend, my friend Bobby help me
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: put it together.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: Okay. These are photographs that you took, you have, Yes,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: And you made this memory book to send to your
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: daughter April.
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: Yes, because I felt it was very important for her
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: to know the story of how she wanted, what happened
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: to us, and how how she got to be at
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: this home that she lives in.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: Right now, okay, and we're we're showing this this memory
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: book here, UH live on aired out so that you
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: can you can see this, do you know? And you
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: have you've got this memory book right next to you.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: Do you know if your daughter has ever seen this
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: memory book?
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: No, she hasn't, because we had I got a letter
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: that said that they looked at the memory book and
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: that it would be keepsake for her, meaning that she
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: never received it.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: Look At how happy you are right there in this
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: picture picture of you with your your blue shirt and
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: you got Judy next to you. You must have been
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: very excited to be a mom.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: And I'm just uh, I'm just scrolling through here so
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: that folks can can see this, uh, this memory book
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: that you've made. And thanks to uh to your friend
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: Jen who helped us get this digitally for us to
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: show here.
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: And I never missed any meetings. I tried not to
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: miss any any of the meetings with her, And when
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: I was at the DCF for one for our meetings,
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: she would look through the glass window and know I
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: was coming. Okay, And Mike, I wanted to share my
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: my goals.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: I definitely want you to to do that. And you
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: have uh they in your back. Yeah, of course this
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: is uh, this is something that's that's really really important.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: And I'm so glad you you've done this. Hang on,
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna grab your glasses.
• 27:00
  Speaker 6: Yeah, thank you, thank you.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: And you were you were breastfeeding, Yeah, your daughter, you
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: had a remarkable bond with her. Yes, you know it's
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: I'm I'm sitting here and I'm looking at some of
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: these pictures. I think to myself, how many of us
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: would have been blessed to have a mom who genuinely
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: wanted to be a mom, And how lucky so many
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: of us would be to get the opportunity to have
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: a mom like you. And that makes this story even
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: harder for me to digest, and it makes me feel
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: it makes me feel sad. But it also brings me
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: some great frustration that stuff like this happened and continues
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: to happen today. This picture here with April wearing her
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: pink shirt, that was the day that you saw her
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: for the first time.
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: Yes, since since we had that since that's the termination
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: of parental rights, So that was in two thousand.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: And nine, so this is twenty fourteen. So she looks
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: she looks like she's maybe eight or nine years old there, Yes, Okay,
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: I'm just I mean, I'm seeing these these pictures now
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: along with with everyone else. This is your memory book
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: that you made for your daughter, April, which we still
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: don't know if she has ever seen. I mean, look
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: at this. It's amazing that your child was taken away
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: from you because others, being at our government or DCF
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: or whoever, others feel and felt that it was in
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: April's best interest to give her a different upbringing away
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: from her biological mother. And I think that that's going
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: to be a tough job to do. I wouldn't want
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: to be I wouldn't want to have a career like
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: that to make decisions like that. But I think that
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: a series of circumstances that led up to this misrepresented
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: you grossly, and this is far beyond a disservice to
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: you and your daughter. This was a culmination I think
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: of several balls dropped, bad decisions made. There are so
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: many mothers and fathers who are not up for this,
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: They're not up for parenting. They maybe never should have
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: been parents. And in some cases, yes, it is a
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: better decision to have the child removed from that situation
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: and put in a better environment where they're able to flourish.
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: But for you, and I'm not the case manager here,
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: but for you, what I know of you, what I
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: know of your heart, your dedication with a capital D
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: commitment to being a mother who first and foremost loves
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: her child and will do anything. That's hard for me
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: to read through and to learn about your story. That's
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: hard for me. It's more than it's so much more
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: than disappointing. I absolutely cannot believe that better pieces couldn't
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: have fallen into place for you to have had, at
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: the absolute least in an opportunity to be engaged with
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: your baby. That is baffling to me. We could sit
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: here and point fingers all day that it was DCF,
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: that it was this, It was the judge, it was whoever.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: But this, like I said, I believe this is a
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: culmination of several very bad decisions that were not made
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: in the best interests of you, Alice, but also your daughter, April,
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: who you have laid eyes on once since she was
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: taken from you. Yes, and that's it. You haven't. You haven't.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: And that was for just a brief moment, Yes, which
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: was again this picture right here, April wearing her pink shirt.
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: This was a chance encounter in Montpellier. Yes, you saw
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: her for how long.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: I'd say, maybe for ten twenty minutes? Not that long.
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: Okay, did you hug? Did you kiss?
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: Yes? We hugged and kiss.
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: Did she understand that you're her biological mother?
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: She came right up to me. Really, she knew who
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: I was.
• 34:31
  Speaker 3: And it was very hard for me because I was
• 34:33
  Speaker 3: always scared not to go to not to go to Burlington.
• 34:37
  Speaker 3: I was scared that I wouldn't I would run into her.
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: This must have rattled you to your core.
• 34:45
  Speaker 3: Yes, But now I'm doing I'm doing much better, and
• 34:51
  Speaker 3: I have I have some goals that I would that
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: I want her.
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: I want my daughter.
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: To know and hopefully and I think One of those goals,
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: if I can just say this, is that in having
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: you here and in hearing these goals that you're about
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: to hear, that we might be able to produce something
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: positive at the end of this podcast where we're able
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: to get April, who lives in Vermont, lives in Burlington,
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: to see this podcast and to maybe baby steps here,
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: but maybe have some form of gentle reunification. Go right ahead.
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: Yes, my goals, my goals?
• 35:49
  Speaker 3: What I what I want my daughter to know. I
• 35:52
  Speaker 3: wanted to know our history, a story that I have
• 35:59
  Speaker 3: remained devoted to devoted to her all these years, that
• 36:04
  Speaker 3: I never stopped loving her, that I never stopped wanting
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: to support her, the truth about her history and her
• 36:14
  Speaker 3: story the memory book. She is important to me and
• 36:22
  Speaker 3: she will be and she she's being and she matters
• 36:27
  Speaker 3: to me. How I want her to feel. I want
• 36:31
  Speaker 3: her to feel loved, supported, heard, cared for, and like
• 36:38
  Speaker 3: she matters connection with her mother me. It's cruel to
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: take a child away from her mother.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: Is that those are the goals that you've.
• 36:54
  Speaker 3: Readen, Yes, and I would love I want to reconnect
• 36:58
  Speaker 3: with her and I want to reconnect with her also
• 37:02
  Speaker 3: one on one without anybody looking over my shoulder.
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, God, bless you for saying that. Alice. You you know,
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: I'm just thinking here, like you deserve that. You know,
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: That's that's my knee jerk reaction is you deserve that,
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: But it's a lot more than you deserve that.
• 37:27
  Speaker 3: Now I'm working, I'm working with the legislator and I'm
• 37:31
  Speaker 3: working with dis Villity Rice Vermont because i don't want
• 37:34
  Speaker 3: this to happen to any other parents that are going
• 37:37
  Speaker 3: through this.
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: Tell me about Connor Casey and folks please listen to this,
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: pay attention and man if you can, if you can
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: help Alice in any way by reaching out to Connor Casey,
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: please do.
• 37:58
  Speaker 3: Please tell Casey is one of our legislators here in
• 38:03
  Speaker 3: Vermont in the state House. He's for the mount Pillier
• 38:07
  Speaker 3: and he's working on this bill with Disability Rights Vermont
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: to protect parents from from taking away their their child.
• 38:21
  Speaker 3: They get Disability Rights Vermont. They get a lot of
• 38:24
  Speaker 3: calls about what they should do, what parents should do
• 38:29
  Speaker 3: that are that are just disabled to have a disability
• 38:33
  Speaker 3: and are having their parents that not their parents, having
• 38:36
  Speaker 3: their children removed for them removed from them as they're disabled,
• 38:42
  Speaker 3: that they have a disability.
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it says the bill proposes to prohibit using an
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: individual's disability as a reason to deny or restrict the
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: rights and responsibilities of a parent, prospective parent, foster parent,
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: or guardian unless doing so is in the best interest
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: of the child.
• 39:04
  Speaker 3: So I know it's really like too late for me,
• 39:08
  Speaker 3: but I want to be I want I want to
• 39:10
  Speaker 3: be able to to make a difference in other people's lives.
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: Who is Laura Cushman?
• 39:19
  Speaker 3: Laura Cushman is a is a staff attorney at Disability
• 39:24
  Speaker 3: Rights for Minds.
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: Can we put her phone number? Can we share that
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: phone number? Or would would you rather not?
• 39:35
  Speaker 6: Is she?
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: Is she the best person to UH to reach out to?
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: Or is it Connor Casey?
• 39:40
  Speaker 3: Connor Casey Okay? And he's trying to get Connor Casey's
• 39:46
  Speaker 3: trying to get me get a meeting with another legislator
• 39:51
  Speaker 3: because I feel it's it's greatly important if legislators hear
• 39:57
  Speaker 3: my story and hear what's going on, because my story
• 40:02
  Speaker 3: had came. My story had came in twenty fifteen, as
• 40:07
  Speaker 3: I said with Al Jazeera, which was the three part story.
• 40:12
  Speaker 3: It was doctor Susan you on me and DCF. Yep,
• 40:18
  Speaker 3: you can't. You can't see that story because Al Jazeera
• 40:24
  Speaker 3: no longer exists. But I was on the VT Digger
• 40:28
  Speaker 3: and if you google my name, you can see the
• 40:32
  Speaker 3: VT Digger story and it tells about the three part story.
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, if you're interested about that.
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: If you google Alice Goltz, this is what you're gonna see.
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: If you look at your at your monitor, this is
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: what you're gonna see. You're gonna see an awful lot,
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: an awful lot you have. You've done some really incredible work.
• 41:05
  Speaker 3: And all I want, all I want to do is
• 41:07
  Speaker 3: just have a relationship. And I just want my daughter
• 41:10
  Speaker 3: to know the truth. And I'm at peace about it.
• 41:15
  Speaker 3: But I feel I feel like my daughter has been
• 41:18
  Speaker 3: told the truth.
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: It's this block we don't know and prior to you know,
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: in the in the in the past and the recent past,
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: you don't know if any of your physical items that
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: you have mailed, including this this memory book that you've made,
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: have been received.
• 41:41
  Speaker 3: Yes, I have to and and it was the way
• 41:45
  Speaker 3: I was sending things was through the adoption registry, and
• 41:50
  Speaker 3: I had a good connection with the adoption registry where
• 41:53
  Speaker 3: sometimes they didn't write.
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: So I would have had the I would have to
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: follow up.
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: And it's not like she's halfway across the world. She's
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: in Burlington, Vermont. Yes, okay, because she she just turned eighteen.
• 42:11
  Speaker 3: Yes, when she turned eighteen on April thirteen.
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: Okay, she's eighteen years old now. Yes, no longer a minor.
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: No longer a mine.
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: So maybe our listeners we're watching and listening right now,
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: can provide some advice. Maybe they can send an email
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: to Representative Connor Casey, who very much supports your efforts
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: and is on your team and is trying to get
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: this bill moving forward, which I would love to know.
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: I reached out to Connor yesterday. I haven't heard back
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: from him, but I would love to know the status
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: on this bill and if it's growing any roots where
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: it stands right now. But maybe our listeners can provide
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: you with some encouragement, some love, some hope, maybe some advice,
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: maybe some support in the way where they're reaching out.
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: Maybe they just simply take this link to this podcast
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: episode and shoot it around, not only share it on
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: their pages, but also send it to Connor Casey, send
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: it to Governor Scott. I also like to I please,
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: I wish you would. Yes, So the pictures that you
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: gave me, oh, the physical pictures, I got them right here.
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: The yeah, I'm going to show them right now. So
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: let's because she's eighteen now, yes, let's let's put her
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: her full name out on and I'm going to put
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: it in the comments here so people can can see
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: this is who we're trying to reach out to and
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: take some baby steps, and we're going about it in
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: a way that's I mean, let's be honest. We're on
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: the air right now, we're live on YouTube, we're live
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: on Facebook. This is a pretty transparent way to do it.
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: April Truzanski, your mom is very much wanting to just
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: meet you and maybe have some time with you, and
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: is willing to do it very slowly and gently if
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: you're willing to as well, and is not going to
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: push too hard, but rather just wants to extend a
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: hand to you and hope that you might reach your
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: hand back just for a little while and maybe, like
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: you said, your your goal, it's it's more than a goal,
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: it's it's a dream that you will be able to
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: have some kind of relationship that she knows how to
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: reach you. She knows your phone number, she knows your email,
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: she knows your address. Yeah, you want to, you want to?
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: You want to include that? Yes, okay, I will do that.
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: I want people are going to people are going to
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: see these pictures. You're going to show them here in
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: a second. But we're gonna get your information out there.
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: And maybe if I mean, I think, you know, seriously,
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: do we have to go to like to a private investigator.
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: How can we find April Trezanski in Burlington, forty five
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: minutes away from us right now and just try to
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: make something good out of something that has been so
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: hard all of these years. I cannot I'll never be
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: able to imagine. And I'm a dad, I have a
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: ten year old girl. I'll never be able to imagine
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: the unspeakable hardship that you must have gone through all
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: of these years. I'll never be able to imagine it.
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: Here she is. Hopefully something can happen here.
• 47:23
  Speaker 2: That's what That's what my hopes and dreams are.
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: Where you're reunited with this young woman eighteen years old.
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: Guaranteed she's got a lot on her plate. She's maybe
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: thinking about college. Yes, graduated from high school.
• 47:44
  Speaker 2: She's graduating this year.
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: She's graduating this coming may. Yes, in a couple of weeks.
• 47:51
  Speaker 3: Yes, but she's taking she's taking a dual program where
• 47:57
  Speaker 3: she's she's doing some college course. And now I was
• 48:01
  Speaker 3: glad I was able to find out that she taking
• 48:04
  Speaker 3: college courses at CCB in Brilliance.
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: Already before she's even graduated from high school.
• 48:11
  Speaker 3: Yes, it's a dual program that the state offers offers children,
• 48:18
  Speaker 3: offers people that want to want to go to college.
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: So she's got ambition, she's got drive, she wants to
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: be successful. Yes, in her life, seems like she's really
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: got it together. Yes, drives a car. I'm I'm assuming,
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: Yes she does.
• 48:34
  Speaker 2: She has a car.
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: What are you saying to April if she were to
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: be watching and listening.
• 48:50
  Speaker 3: I love you and I'll never stop loving you, and
• 48:53
  Speaker 3: I never, I never, I'll always be there for you,
• 48:56
  Speaker 3: and I'll support you the best I can.
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: April has, speaking of support, has been receiving over the
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: course of her whole life, some financial support, Yes, from
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: from you.
• 49:15
  Speaker 3: Yes, it doesn't take away from my soul security disability.
• 49:19
  Speaker 2: It's just a benefit that she diseaves.
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: Okay, so she's she's been receiving this benefit for the
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: last eighteen years.
• 49:31
  Speaker 2: Yes, the her guardians receipt receive it.
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: Okay, let's if you're comfortable with it. Let's put your
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: your contact information. I'm going to put it right into
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: the to the notes here, and you may be contacted
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: by our listeners who are going to be seeing this
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: and showing support for you. Are you you do you
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: want to do that? Are you willing to do that?
• 50:01
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm willing to like have my email email.
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: And yes, anything you want, I'm going to put it
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: right now. You tell me.
• 50:14
  Speaker 2: I want my email will be good.
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: Right ahead.
• 50:19
  Speaker 3: It's Alice our goals at gmail dot.
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: Com, Alice the letter R Y G O L.
• 50:33
  Speaker 2: T Z at gmail dot com.
• 50:37
  Speaker 3: Okay, And my hopes and my hopes and dreams is
• 50:45
  Speaker 3: that somebody will be able to by sharing this, we'll
• 50:49
  Speaker 3: be able to get a hold of her and let
• 50:52
  Speaker 3: her see see the show and make up and be
• 50:56
  Speaker 3: able to to process to process.
• 51:00
  Speaker 2: This and help.
• 51:01
  Speaker 3: My goal is hopefully we can reunify and be back together.
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: Again in whatever capacity you can. I don't think and
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: I'll kind of say this again, I don't think that
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: you are being overly assertive here. I don't think you're
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: demanding anything now. It's too late for that. Frankly, you're
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: just looking for the opportunity to just have some kind
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: of reunification or even communication with your daughter. She knows
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: where to find you, she knows how to reach out
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: to you, and the ball is in her court. Yes,
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: but at least to know how freaking hard you tried
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: as a mom and how committed you were then and
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: still are today. Regardless of what age she is, you
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: will do everything you can to support her and show
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: her and prove to her that she's loved by you,
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: her biological mom.
• 52:22
  Speaker 2: I do want to put my my Facebook, my facebooks
• 52:26
  Speaker 2: are what is your tell me my Facebook is? Is
• 52:31
  Speaker 2: my name? Alice?
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: That's it? Yes, okay, Alice. You're a strong, strong, strong lady.
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: You're tougher the nails. You got something in you that
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: so many of us don't possess. You are one remarkable
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: human being. And I there's a lot of people that
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: know your story, and there's a lot of people that
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: are praying that something is going to result from this, somehow,
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: something positive. Shame on me for waiting two years to
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: have you back here in the in the studio, As
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: I said, I've only met you once at a cafe
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: where we sat down and you told me this story,
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: and it struck me so hard, just as it is
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: again today. I think, if you're willing to, I think
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: that we should do another update here soon, like like
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: maybe like soon soon, like a month, and see if
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: there's any traction going. Because if there's something that's resulting
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: here where you're able to, there's something productive, I would
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: like to know about it immediately, and maybe we can
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: share that news with our listeners who are tuned in
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: this morning and frankly invested in you and your story.
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: You don't have to know Alice personally, but just meeting
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: her here on this podcast and seeing her this is
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: a local lady who lives in Montpellier who's trying to
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: reach out to her daughter after being cut off from
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: her for eighteen years and have some kind of relationship. Yes,
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: I think. I think if you got an inch, you
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: would take an inch, yes, and not immediately try to
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: get a mile out of it, but just baby.
• 55:19
  Speaker 2: Steps, baby steps.
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: You understand that she's eighteen, You understand that she has
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: been raised by some some people that we don't really
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: know much about. I don't know they could be just
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: wonderful people. We don't. I don't know, but she's been
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: raised by others and that's kind of who she is.
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: She's a product of that, and it looks like she's
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: doing some really amazing things with her life. But you
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: would love the opportunity to just simply have a brief
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: conversation for as much as she's willing to. Like I said,
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: the ball's in her court. Yes, even if it's a
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: phone call, even if it's a one hour cup of
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: coffee or maybe maybe longer, you would take anything. Yes,
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: I would love to see what's happening in a month
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: with Connor and I are going to connect. I guarantee
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: you that. But I would love to see what's happening
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: with this bill. I would love to see what's happening
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: on paperwork. I would love to see what's going on here,
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: not only I mean, look as it is now, the
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: water's over the dam and you're just hoping for some
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: kind of relationship or connectivity. Yes, but what can we do?
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: What can you do to prevent something like this from happening?
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: Every story is subjective, every story is unique.
• 57:18
  Speaker 3: I feel that if we have more more people letting people,
• 57:24
  Speaker 3: letting the legislators know about this. I feel that kind
• 57:28
  Speaker 3: of Casey is a good representative because he cares about
• 57:33
  Speaker 3: the people. He'll go he will go out to see
• 57:37
  Speaker 3: the homeless people. He'll make every efforts for the people
• 57:44
  Speaker 3: rather than just just the people that have the money
• 57:49
  Speaker 3: and the power. Yeah, and that's what type of people
• 57:53
  Speaker 3: we need, is people that that can represent us and
• 58:00
  Speaker 3: know us.
• 58:03
  Speaker 2: And I just.
• 58:06
  Speaker 3: I just want everybody to know that. You know, I'm
• 58:10
  Speaker 3: at peace about I'm at peace about my daughter, but
• 58:14
  Speaker 3: I want I want my daughter.
• 58:16
  Speaker 2: I want my daughter to.
• 58:18
  Speaker 3: Be able to see this memory book, to see our
• 58:22
  Speaker 3: life together. So that's my goal is I hope that
• 58:26
  Speaker 3: people could share it and maybe somebody could share it
• 58:29
  Speaker 3: that knows, that knows her. So she can't she can't
• 58:33
  Speaker 3: see the podcast because I feel it's her every right
• 58:37
  Speaker 3: to know about what had happened to her. So many,
• 58:42
  Speaker 3: so many people lose out on that, and it's so hard,
• 58:47
  Speaker 3: it's so it's so hard.
• 58:48
  Speaker 2: For other parents.
• 58:50
  Speaker 3: You know, I'm so thankful that God had got me
• 58:54
  Speaker 3: through this time. You know, I have did so great
• 58:58
  Speaker 3: and I'm so thankful for the people that are in
• 59:01
  Speaker 3: my life.
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: Judy Alan Jennifer. Yes, those are some key players here, and.
• 59:11
  Speaker 3: My frend niece that that's really been a good person,
• 59:15
  Speaker 3: a good friend. Where she was the one that when
• 59:18
  Speaker 3: we were walking in Mount Pilliot, she actually got to
• 59:22
  Speaker 3: got to see that special moment where I got to
• 59:25
  Speaker 3: see my daughter. And in fourteen Yes, and doctor Susan
• 59:31
  Speaker 3: you one on the Alvia zero report she said, I
• 59:35
  Speaker 3: never met a parent that's so dedicated to her child.
• 59:40
  Speaker 3: So I so I did everything I could, you know,
• 59:46
  Speaker 3: and I just keep I just keep praying, praying that
• 59:50
  Speaker 3: that God will make the way for me to see
• 59:53
  Speaker 3: her and BB be connected. But I do ask the
• 59:58
  Speaker 3: listeners if they can, if they can help me in
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 3: any way by sharing, by sharing this this podcast, and
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 3: I thank everybody by the bottom.
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 2: Of my heart.
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 1: Can you hold up that memory book that you made.
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 2: H This is me and my brother right and this
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 2: is her.
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 3: In the ultrasong and her as a baby.
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: Keep going.
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 3: And there's pictures with me and Judy and pictures with
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 3: me and Thomas and Victoria Peden And this was the
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 3: first what's the home that we lived in and this
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 3: was pictures of us. These are more pictures.
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: Just so happy in that picture with that blue shirt
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: on Yes, and there's another one with the same blue shirt,
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: show that one.
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 3: And there's a picture of me holding her. And there's
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 3: a lot of righting writing. I did a lot of
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 3: that forord in this book. I like to I like
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 3: to read. Maybe I can read it soon.
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 2: To the listeners.
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 1: You can read anything you want.
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 6: Okay, just give me a second. Okay, little losses.
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 2: One of the women we.
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 5: Right there they.
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 2: Are, because this is really what I want. I want
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 2: her to know as I don't know.
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 3: I don't know what she got the memory book, okay,
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 3: and some.
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 1: Of it, Alice is is super private. So why don't
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: you just read something that's not as as private?
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 5: Okay? Okay?
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: And I have read through this myself with a lot
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: of tears, and as I said, just can't even imagine.
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 1: I can't even imagine being in your shoes, Alice, and
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 1: having to having to go through the experiences that you've
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: You've had.
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 3: His special day that that I I put down, it's
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 3: when I dedicated her to the Lord at North Avenue
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 3: Alliance in October two thousand and seven. I said, what
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 3: a special day we had at church at North Avenue
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 3: Alliance at brill into Vermont. That's when we had April
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 3: dedicated to the Lord. It gave me great strength and
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 3: happiness to know that God would always be watching over April.
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 3: God chose means as April's bomb, and I want to
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 3: honor God and raise her to love him.
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 5: See that you find.
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 3: I wanted to share this with the listeners. It's about
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 3: doctor Susan y One, a doctor who assessed my parent
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 3: abilities and found it program for parents with disabilities, the
• 1:05:13
  Speaker 3: Positive Paring Program in Massachusetts. This was a place for
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 3: families with parents with disabilities. It was somewhere that April
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 3: and I could live together. Doctor Susan yu On fought
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 3: hard for us to be in this program. We would
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 3: be the first family from another state. I hope that
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 3: could have happened.
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 1: Just like Steven says, you take your time.
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 2: Okay, this I'd like to share.
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 3: I lived at TOO two opera opposite size of South
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 3: Burlington in order to get to all my visits two days,
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 3: where at TCF the caseworker would wouldn't would not treat
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 3: me nice at all.
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 2: There were.
• 1:06:50
  Speaker 3: There were days then I walk home from Willesden to
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 3: South Burlington. I was sad, but I thank god they
• 1:06:59
  Speaker 3: can be safe on the roads. People would ask me,
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 3: how can I keep going? I would say to to
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 3: them a mother, a mother will do whatever she she
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 3: has to for a child. Doctor susan Ewan, I said,
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 3: who found the who found my parent abilities and found
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 3: the program for parents with disability Positive parent Program Massachusetts
• 1:07:40
  Speaker 3: where this this is families with parents with disabilities, and
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 3: that it's somewhere where Apel and I could have lived together.
• 1:07:52
  Speaker 3: And doctor Eywan fought hard for us to be in
• 1:07:56
  Speaker 3: this be in this program as we we would be
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 3: the first family from the state. As I said, I
• 1:08:04
  Speaker 3: hope I could have lived together there. DCF of Bradleborough
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 3: was willing to take our case if we were placed
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 3: in the positive Pairing program. DCF Burlington roadblock that process.
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 3: They arrived only one day before the before the court state,
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 3: and by then there was no space in the pairing
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 3: program for us. This was shocking blows to me. Instead
• 1:08:37
  Speaker 3: of me living together in this program, DCF was placing
• 1:08:43
  Speaker 3: April of the permanent home. I was destraught. I was crying.
• 1:08:52
  Speaker 3: I can't wonder how I can't but wonder her feelings,
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 3: what she is doing in I can't wait to sort
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 3: of a new future filled with new memories and priceless moments.
• 1:09:23
  Speaker 4: Yes you see, Yes, thank you for coming in here, Alice.
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: We're going to do an update here in another month. Okay. Yes,
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 1: I'm so blessed by you, blessed by our friendship, blessed
• 1:09:47
  Speaker 1: to know you. So many others are as well. Now
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 1: after hearing your story and seeing you this morning, we're
• 1:09:57
  Speaker 1: going to see what we can do. Thank you, love.
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 5: The more yeh