RUTLAND – Vermont Psychiatric Survivors board members offered a tribute to longtime staff advocate Amy Wales at the opening of the organizations Annual Meeting this past fall.
Wales was a peer support worker at Second Spring, an intensive recovery residence, for 10 years before her death on July 8, 2022.
Marty Roberts called Wales “one of the best friends I ever had” and “a tireless advocate for people at Second Spring.” When she became ill, an eagle became her totem, Roberts said, and “she trusted her wings” – referencing the opening of her obituary. The obituary was on display for the meeting and was read aloud by Roberts.
It included a comment from a co-worker at Second Spring, who said, “Amy believed in their strengths, and advocated tirelessly in support of their rights, especially when the system failed them.”
“Her unbridled empathy, the product of a never hardened, pure and delicate spirit, enabled her to relate to others who suffered emotional and physical trauma,” the obituary said. She was gifted with a sense of wit, it said. It went on to also note her son, Patrick, as the pride and joy of her life.
After the tribute to Wales, several others rose to offer remembrances of others who were close to them and passed away. “How we deal with death is as important as how we deal with life,” said board member Zack Hughes.