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VERMONT STANDARD
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Woodstock Native Walks for Newborn Havens
By Cassie Horner
News Correspondent
Rocky Harlow, a former resident of Woodstock, plans to walk from his home in
Hinesburg to the steps of the Capital in Montpelier on Oct. 14 and 15.
Once in Montpelier Harlow will give a press conference in the office of
Secretary of State Deb Markowitz. The goal of the two-day hike is to draw
attention the need for Safe Haven legislation in Vermont that will protect
newborns from being abandoned in exposed places such as dumpsters and the
woods.
Laws across the U.S. decriminalize newborn abandonment and encourage mothers to
seek out safe havens to leave an unwanted baby. Vermont is one of only four
states that do not have this type of law. The others are Nebraska, Alaska and
Hawaii.
Harlow will be joined on the walk by his father Bud of Woodstock, his youngest
sister Heather, a couple from Massachusetts and Debi Faris-Cifelli of the
organization Safe Arms for Newborns in California.
Harlow, a 1978 graduate of Woodstock Union High School, took up the cause a few
years ago after hearing of multiple cases of newborns left to die in
California. One of the incidents in the U.S. involved a high school senior who
gave birth at the prom and suffocated the infant. "It really tore my heart
(since) I was a father of a newborn at the time," Harlow recalls.
"I don’t think people in Vermont pay much attention (to the issue) because it
rarely happens in Vermont," he comments. But it does happen, Harlow says,
citing the highly publicized incident in Poultney in the late 90s when a Green
Mountain College student abandoned her child who was, fortunately, found alive.
Harlow decided that he wanted to heighten awareness of the issue in Vermont.
When he was doing research, he came across information about Faris-Cifelli and
the Garden of Angels in California. "She is a very remarkable woman. It could
be said she sort of spearheaded the whole project in California," he comments.
Faris-Cifelli established Safe Arms for Newborns after taking action in 1996
when she heard on the news about a newborn in a duffel bag thrown onto the
interstate. With the support of her family, she had body of the child released
to her to bury. By the time of the funeral, Faris-Cifelli had taken in two
other children, one a newborn found dead in a dumpster and the other a two-year
old washed up on a beach in Malibu.
Faris-Cifelli will fly in from California along with aboard member of Safe Arms
for Newborns for the walk in Vermont. The organization’s web site,
www.gardenofangels.org, describes its mission and history.
Initially, Faris-Cifelli bought 47 plots in a cemetery about 70 miles east of
Los Angeles. Quickly, people supported her with donations.
Since 1996, Safe Arms has buried 68 newborns. Faris-Cifelli personally picks up
each body at the coroners office, removes the plastic covering and holds the
infant. She gives the child a name and burial in a casket with poems and toys.
.. The first three were named Matthew, Nathan and Dora -- all meaning "gift of
God."
Harlow explains that he has had very little response from Vermont legislators
about the issue. "I have tried to gain the ear of various legislators in
Montpelier," he says. In spite of e-mails, phone calls, and even one
face-to-face meeting, "I wasn’t getting anywhere, (so) it was time to take
more notable steps." With the walk, "I’m hoping senators and representatives
will take notice."
Harlow theorizes that legislators "wouldn’t want to do it (support
legislation) because they think there isn’t a need for it." Referring to the
small number of Vermont cases, he cautions, "How do you know there haven’t
been more. It would be easy for a mother to have a baby in the woods and just
leave it." Not doing anything, "terrifies me that it will happen" more
frequently in the state. The legislation, he says, creates a situation where,
"if a mother can feel safe enough to bring in a child unharmed and leave it at
a safe haven then maybe it gives them (courage) to do the right thing for the
child."
Harlow lives in Hinesburg with his wife and two children. After graduating
from WUHS, he traveled with the group Up With People in 1980. He went to
Castleton State College, completing his degree in theatre arts in 1985. He
served in the Air Force and was married in 1990. With a masters in theatre
lighting, he got a job at a theatrical equipment supply company in Burlington.
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Woodstock Native Walks for Newborn Havens
By Cassie Horner
News Correspondent
Rocky Harlow, a former resident of Woodstock, plans to walk from his home in
Hinesburg to the steps of the Capital in Montpelier on Oct. 14 and 15.
Once in Montpelier Harlow will give a press conference in the office of
Secretary of State Deb Markowitz. The goal of the two-day hike is to draw
attention the need for Safe Haven legislation in Vermont that will protect
newborns from being abandoned in exposed places such as dumpsters and the
woods.
Laws across the U.S. decriminalize newborn abandonment and encourage mothers to
seek out safe havens to leave an unwanted baby. Vermont is one of only four
states that do not have this type of law. The others are Nebraska, Alaska and
Hawaii.
Harlow will be joined on the walk by his father Bud of Woodstock, his youngest
sister Heather, a couple from Massachusetts and Debi Faris-Cifelli of the
organization Safe Arms for Newborns in California.
Harlow, a 1978 graduate of Woodstock Union High School, took up the cause a few
years ago after hearing of multiple cases of newborns left to die in
California. One of the incidents in the U.S. involved a high school senior who
gave birth at the prom and suffocated the infant. "It really tore my heart
(since) I was a father of a newborn at the time," Harlow recalls.
"I don’t think people in Vermont pay much attention (to the issue) because it
rarely happens in Vermont," he comments. But it does happen, Harlow says,
citing the highly publicized incident in Poultney in the late 90s when a Green
Mountain College student abandoned her child who was, fortunately, found alive.
Harlow decided that he wanted to heighten awareness of the issue in Vermont.
When he was doing research, he came across information about Faris-Cifelli and
the Garden of Angels in California. "She is a very remarkable woman. It could
be said she sort of spearheaded the whole project in California," he comments.
Faris-Cifelli established Safe Arms for Newborns after taking action in 1996
when she heard on the news about a newborn in a duffel bag thrown onto the
interstate. With the support of her family, she had body of the child released
to her to bury. By the time of the funeral, Faris-Cifelli had taken in two
other children, one a newborn found dead in a dumpster and the other a two-year
old washed up on a beach in Malibu.
Faris-Cifelli will fly in from California along with aboard member of Safe Arms
for Newborns for the walk in Vermont. The organization’s web site,
www.gardenofangels.org, describes its mission and history.
Initially, Faris-Cifelli bought 47 plots in a cemetery about 70 miles east of
Los Angeles. Quickly, people supported her with donations.
Since 1996, Safe Arms has buried 68 newborns. Faris-Cifelli personally picks up
each body at the coroners office, removes the plastic covering and holds the
infant. She gives the child a name and burial in a casket with poems and toys.
.. The first three were named Matthew, Nathan and Dora -- all meaning "gift of
God."
Harlow explains that he has had very little response from Vermont legislators
about the issue. "I have tried to gain the ear of various legislators in
Montpelier," he says. In spite of e-mails, phone calls, and even one
face-to-face meeting, "I wasn’t getting anywhere, (so) it was time to take
more notable steps." With the walk, "I’m hoping senators and representatives
will take notice."
Harlow theorizes that legislators "wouldn’t want to do it (support
legislation) because they think there isn’t a need for it." Referring to the
small number of Vermont cases, he cautions, "How do you know there haven’t
been more. It would be easy for a mother to have a baby in the woods and just
leave it." Not doing anything, "terrifies me that it will happen" more
frequently in the state. The legislation, he says, creates a situation where,
"if a mother can feel safe enough to bring in a child unharmed and leave it at
a safe haven then maybe it gives them (courage) to do the right thing for the
child."
Harlow lives in Hinesburg with his wife and two children. After graduating
from WUHS, he traveled with the group Up With People in 1980. He went to
Castleton State College, completing his degree in theatre arts in 1985. He
served in the Air Force and was married in 1990. With a masters in theatre
lighting, he got a job at a theatrical equipment supply company in Burlington.
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