Oral History

From Gary de Carolis:

5 words: Dedicated, sincere, positive-outlook, values justice

Sally Borden is the Executive Director of KidSafe Collaborative, a community based non-profit organization in Burlington, VT. Ms. Borden started with KidSafe Collaborative in 1998 and has served as the Executive Director since 2001. She leads numerous community initiatives to improve the safety, health and well-being of children and youth, including the Children and Recovering Mothers (CHARM) team, a multi-disciplinary group which coordinates services for pregnant and post-partum women with a history of opioid use disorder and their infants, and the Chittenden County Child Protection and Family Support Team.

Ms. Borden co-Chairs Vermont’s federally-mandated Vermont Citizens Advisory Board to the VT Department for Children and Families, and serves on the Vermont Child Fatality Review Team. She has extensive professional experience in the fields of domestic violence, child abuse services and victim/witness assistance. Ms. Borden previously served as the Executive Director of Safe Alternatives to Violent Environments (Fremont, CA). Prior to that she was the Director of Training for the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance, and was the Victim/Witness Assistance Director for the Northwestern Massachusetts District Attorney’s Office.

Ms. Borden’s work has been recognized with the U.S. Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families Commissioner's Award, the Vermont Agency of Human Services Community Award, and the Queen City Police Foundation Antonio B. Pomerleau Medal of Honor, presented by Senator Patrick Leahy. Additionally, she was awarded the Frederick H. Tuttle Memorial Award from the Rotary Club of South Burlington, and the Laura’s Spirit Award from the Laura K. Winterbottom Memorial Fund.

Ms. Borden grew up in California, and attended college at the University of California at Davis. She holds a Master’s Degree in Education from Cambridge College in Massachusetts. Her partner is a born-and-raised Vermonter, and they returned to live in Vermont in 1996. They live in South Burlington and have two now-adult children.

Friends and family of Peggy Luhrs celebrate her life with music, stories and celebration. 

Obituaries:

Seven Days

VTDigger

Suzie, in 5 words: Optimistic, Curious, Creative, Caring, Passionate

Bio:
"Suzie Walker is a fairly recent Vermonter, as Vermonters go, having moved to Brattleboro in 2005. Her publishing work brought her here, and the people in that quirky, artsy-fartsy corner of Vermont have kept her here! While she grew up on a dairy farm in Central New York, she considers herself a transplanted Texan, having lived in Fort Worth for several years. Ole Man Winter is not her friend, and sunny Texas warmed her heart. It makes her smile that a bovine theme connects these three very different places: a dairy farm, Cowtown USA (Fort Worth), and Brattleboro, home of the Strolling of the Heifers parade! This cowgirl quilter and cat lover, who cherishes her friends and family, has worked in academic publishing for many years, through her own business since becoming an "accidental" nonprofit director. A series of coincidences led to her serving as the executive director of a nonprofit recovery center for the past 13 years--the Turning Point of Windham County. Suzie stays open to what life presents her and likes to follow the unexpected paths! She has a grateful heart for many reasons, one being her own recovery from substance-use disorder."

From the organizers:

Keynote Speaker: Tim Wise returns to Burlington for another Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and educators in the United States. He has spent the past 25 years speaking to audiences in all 50 states, on over 1,500 college and high school campuses, at hundreds of professional and academic conferences, and to community groups across the country.

Guests:

Tim Wise - Anti-Racist Activist, Author; TJ Donovan - Vermont Attorney General; Moise St. Louis - Director of Multicultural Affairs & Service, St Michael's College; Chol Dhoor - Founder and Executive Director of the Sudanese Foundation of Vermont; Bor Yang - Director of the Vermont Human Rights Commission; H. Sparks - Director of Equity Burlington School District

Association of Africans Living in Vermont, Champlain Housing Trust, City Market, First Unitarian Universalist Society, TD Bank, Howard Center, KeyBank, Mace Engravers, People’s United Bank, Spruce Mortgage, City of Burlington