Disability rights activist Willie Mae Goodman and the co-chair of the Willowbrook Committee Diane Buglioli discuss the horrors of the infamous Willowbrook State School.
Goodman saved her daughter Margaret from the institution and has been fighting ever since. Margaret is now 66 years old and living with dignity.
Goodman discusses when she first learned about the horrors at Willowbrook. Margaret now lives in the Dickson Goodman apartments in Harlem, which was named after the Harlem icon and community board member Marie Dickson.
She explains what it took to get the facility built and the support the apartments provide for people with disabilities.
Goodman also talks about what her chief concerns are today as it relates to budget cuts.
Buglioli worked at Willowbrook and is one of the founders of “A Very Special Place” on Staten Island, a non-profit born out of the school.
Buglioli is also a co-chair of the Willowbrook Committee. She was 19-years-old when she got her first job at Willowbrook. Buglioli discusses the horrors she witnessed first-hand at the school.
She also discusses the Willowbrook Mile, which opens on September 17, 2022.
It marks the history of the site with benches and landscaping to never forget the atrocities at Willowbrook.