Our Story

The lives of tens of thousands of citizens were shaped and impacted by the existence of the state's institutions for people with intellectual, developmental, and psychiatric disabilities. Yet the story of the rise, fall, reform, and closing of these places has never been told.

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As a result, people cannot locate records, those who with to know about their loved ones have no story from which to begin to understand their lives, graves remain unmarked an unaccounted for, and those with stories to tell have been forced into silence. The places where these institutions once existed have fallen into ruin, and worse.

Nobody sees these issues more acutely every day than the organizations who have come together to ensure the passage of H.2009 and S.1257. Collectively, our organizations represent hundreds of thousands of citizens across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.