This article is a reprint and is not directly from Let's Homeschool.com 

The O'Dell family in Vermont

Good Morning -

This is the most recent communication I have received regarding the O'Dell family in Vermont.  You will notice it also includes addresses which can be used to send letters and/or cards to the children. I realize, even if I don't understand, that there is resistance to supporting this family. The most common excuse I have heard is that it's not "really about homeschooling".

Today, I would like to appeal to you for the sake of the children. I am hoping that, even if only for a few minutes, you can suspend the urge to listen to all the reasons why this family should not have your support and remember that at the center of this are children who have been denied access to their parents.

So whatever your beliefs are about family, freedom and parental rights, I hope you will feel inspired to send a card or a note of encouragement to these children. And perhaps, in the midst of their pain and sorrow, you will have given them a smile.

For freedom,
Donna M. De Poalo
Editor
EducationalFreedom.com

NOTE: Permission is granted to distribute this message freely in its entirety. Please do!


<begin forwarded message>
Hello Donna,

Patricia and Ray O'Dell's four homeschooling children, 8 year old Elizabeth,11 year old Angela, 14 year old Samantha and 15 year old Andrew, are still being held hostage by Vermont Social Rehabilitative Services (SRS) on the bogus charge of 'educational neglect'. These children continue to be subjected to forced separation from their parents, forced public schooling, forced immunizations, verbal and physical abuse in the foster homes (I have photos to prove it) and a multitude of other violations of their civil, constitutional and God-given rights as American citizens.

Before SRS intervention this family lived quite comfortably on their own in hotels (with room service, cable TV, shower & toilet facilities, continental breakfast, etc.), with family members or camping in the lush green forests of Vermont during the warmer months after their Fair Haven home burned to the ground three days after Christmas in December 2000. Meanwhile, the family was working last fall to prepare their new home on Hunter Brook Road in South Newfane, Vermont where they purchased outright a one acre lot and a used mobile home which they planned to install. Local officials (with the blessings of the SRS and Vermont Department of Education) harassed the O'Dell family continuously to the point of driving them off of their own property and out of state.

The O'Dell children were seized by SRS with the brute force of the state police on Friday, September 13, 2002 at the home of Patricia O'Dell's ill mother. Since the seizure the children have been forced to live apart from their parents, family members and friends and have been denied the affections and support of these same people. During supervised visits (which only take place once or twice a week at the whim of social worker Athena Bolger) the O'Dell's are not allowed to cry, hug each other, comfort each other or share information. This family is taunted, scolded, provoked and belittled by Ms. Bolger or whomever is assigned to sit in the room at the time of these visits making it a very stressful experience for both parents and children.

It is time to give some moral and physical support to the O'Dell children in the form of cards, letters, gifts and telephone calls. The children were denied any contact with their parents on their mother's birthday in September and on Thanksgiving day. As it stands now SRS is planning to deny these children any contact with their parents on Christmas day as well. Patricia and Ray O'Dell are loving parents to their children and I can attest to that fact. They have struggled for years to make a better life for themselves and to not become a burden on the taxpayers by accepting welfare programs. They live on very little income but they own their S. Newfane property outright. They chose to homeschool their children because the public schools failed to give their children an education and actually held them back (there is documentation to prove this) in their learning.

For those of you who have followed this case you know that the O'Dells are being treated unfairly and unjustly. The state of Vermont has simply confiscated their children because the O'Dells chose to homeschool them. Their choice to homeschool meant that the local school lost thousands of dollars in funding and the school was not happy about that. It was the decision of the Fair Haven Elementary principal, Gloria Moulton, to 'go after' the O'Dell family two months after their home burned and to make their life a living hell. Ms. Moulton's decision (and many threats) worked its way through the channels of the DOE's bureaucratic behemoth via Natalie Casco (Home Study Consultant) where it was decided the O'Dell family would be denied their constitutional right to homeschool. Once Casco labeled the case 'educational neglect' (a term which she herself could not define on Ruth Dwyer's Hard Look broadcast on ABC 22 TV news on Thursday, November 14, 2002) the case was then handed over to SRS.

Patricia and Ray had a hearing scheduled for Thursday, December 5, 2002 to determine whether or not they get their children returned to them. Because of the incompetence of her public defender a continuance was issued and the hearing has been postponed. The children are devastated because they thought they were coming home. Senator Mark Shepard (R) of Bennington has been lending a hand and moral support to the O'Dells but the game playing by Athena Bolger and other SRS members continues.

Patricia and Ray O'Dell have given their consent and would appreciate your help in boosting the moral of the O'Dell children by contacting them at the following addresses:

Miss Elizabeth Veach-O'Dell
c/o Deborah Burke
Route 7
Pownal, VT
(802) 823-0260
or
Miss Elizabeth Veach-O'Dell
c/o Pownal Elementary School
94 Schoolhouse Rd.
Pownal, VT 05261
(802) 823-7333
**********
Miss Angela Cameron
c/o Paula & Dana Mears
Bennington, VT 05201
(802) 442-7013
or
Miss Angela Cameron
c/o Molly Stark Elementary School
Willow Rd.
Bennington, VT 05201
(802) 442-2692
**********
Miss Samantha Tompkins
c/o Michelle Angell
100 Mt. View Rd.
Bennington, VT 05201
(802) 447-2634
or
Miss Samantha Tompkins
c/o Mt. Anthony Union High School
301 Park St. Ext.
Bennington, VT 05201
(802) 447-7511
**********
Andrew Veach
c/o Mt. Anthony Union High School
301 Park St. Ext.
Bennington, VT 05201
(802) 447-7511
or
Andrew Veach
c/o Barbara Newton
(802) 447-0375
**********

A Christmas card or words of encouragement can also be sent to Patricia and Ray at:

Patricia & Ray O'Dell
P.O. Box 529
N. Bennington, VT 05257

**********

We are still working on collecting funds for the O'Dell family in order to install their mobile home on their S. Newfane property. At the moment we have a few hundred dollars but are in need of much more. We need enough to hire someone with a bulldozer to pull the home onto the property and set it up. After that we can go in and work on repairs and renovations. This fund can be sent directly to me: Cindy Wade, RR 2 Box 145, E. Wallingford, VT 05742 (make a note it is for the O'Dell Family Fund). If you have questions you can email me at cwade@vermontel.com
Make check or money order out to: Cindy Wade.

The other fund we are accepting contributions for is the O'Dell Family Education Fund and can be sent to:
A Teacher's Closet
67 Center St.
Rutland, VT 05701.

Patty Ryan (owner) can be reached at 802-773-1377. Note the contribution is for the O'Dell Family Education Fund. This is where Patricia and Ray buy their homeschooling supplies. Make check or money order out to: A Teacher's Closet.

We are still accepting household items, clothing, furnishings, etc. for the O'Dell family. Many people have contributed so far. Some of the items that the family cannot use (such as baby clothes, golf clubs, etc.) are being taken to a local flea market for sale to help raise funds. So far this has netted $55.00 for the O'Dell Family Fund.

I wish to personally thank the many people who are making the effort to help and those who have been very generous. Some have contributed money which is sorely needed but others are giving items, time, brain power and muscle power. I thank you all.

With kind,
Cindy Wade