BURLINGTON, VT— Howard Center is pleased to announce a partnership with Vermont Old Cemetery Association (VOCA) to complete a restoration at Lakeview Cemetery. The project includes restoring and resetting children’s gravestone markers who lived at the Home for Destitute Children in the late 1800s. A forerunner to Howard Center today, the Home was founded in 1865 first at 447 Main Street in Burlington, then on Winooski Avenue, and later to the current site of Price Chopper/Market 32 on Shelburne Road along Home Avenue which is said to have taken its name from the Home for Destitute Children. The gravestone markers in the cemetery plot were donated in part by Louisa Howard, a local and generous benefactor in the 1800s, who also donated the Louisa Howard Chapel in Lakeview Cemetery to the City of Burlington.
A combined group of a dozen volunteers from both organizations will complete the restoration on Saturday, September 10, 2022. VOCA President, Tom Giffin says, “Our members are so pleased to be able to work with Howard Center to complete this restoration. It’s always an honor to do this work and especially meaningful to revitalize children’s memorials.”
VOCA was founded in 1958 to encourage the restoration and preservation of neglected and abandoned cemeteries in the State of Vermont. The organization has completed over a dozen projects this year.
Howard Center is Vermont’s largest designated agency and provides community-based mental health, substance use, and developmental services in Chittenden County and in several other counties in Vermont. Howard Center CEO, Bob Bick says, “We are grateful to the VOCA members for their support to complete this restoration. The Home for Destitute Children is an important part of Howard Center’s history and our shared Vermont history and we are so pleased to have the opportunity to honor the children’s memory in this way.”
For additional historical information, contact Denise Vignoe at 802-488-6912; 802-318-2860; dvignoe@howardcenter.org or visit the special collections section at the University of Vermont’s David W. Howe Memorial Library.
####
ABOUT HOWARD CENTER: Howard Center has a long and rich history as a trusted provider in the community. With a legacy spanning more than 155 years, we have been providing progressive, compassionate, high-quality care and supports to those in need. Today, we offer an array of exemplary mental health, substance use, and developmental services across the lifespan. As Vermont’s largest social service organization, our 1,600 staff help more than 19,000 people each year in over 60 locations throughout Vermont in collaboration with hundreds of community partners. Howard Center’s 24/7/365 crisis service, First Call for Chittenden County, is available to meet the needs of Chittenden County children, adults, and families in crisis by calling 802-488-7777. www.howardcenter.org. Help is here. A United Way of Northwest Vermont Funded Agency.