The brick walkway with the names of New Haven’s gun violence victims. The memorial garden’s newest addition. A pedestrian bridge now connects West Rock Park with a Valley Street memorial garden for victims of gun violence — thanks to the generosity of a neighbor, and the persistence of a visionary trio of moms who continue to translate their heartbreak into beauty. Mayor Justin Elicker, Urban Resources Initiative (URI) Executive Director Colleen Murphy-Dunning, Pamela Jaynez, Celeste Fulcher, and Tom Ciancia officially welcomed that new West River-crossing bridge — which spans 71 and a half feet — on Thursday morning with a press conference and ribbon cutting at 107 Valley St. That’s the site of the New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing, which Jaynez, Fulcher, and Marlene Pratt — all New Haven mothers of homicide victims — worked with URI and the city to open in 2021. The landscaped garden at the foot of West Rock Park already contains a sculpture, benches, flowers, trees, and a walking path with 715 bricks containing the names of people who have been shot and killed in New Haven over the past half century-plus. Its newest addition is the footbridge, which has a wooden deck and is made of structural steel and was the subject of Thursday’s celebration. Ciancia, who lives next door to the memorial garden, donated $150,000 to help make the $180,000 project a reality; URI kicked in the remaining $30,000. “This site is a gift to our community,” Elicker said. He described the bridge as just “another way our community can work to find peace” — both within ourselves and out in nature. Reading a letter written by Jaynez, Pratt, and Fulcher, Dunning-Murphy praised Ciancia’s gift as an example of “hope, compassion, [and] remembrance.” This bridge is a reminder that, “even in the face of tragedy, there are people who believe” and who will help. Ciancia told the three dozen people assembled on Thursday morning about how he was sitting at home roughly a decade ago when his doorbell rang, “and it was Marlene.” She told him that she was looking to build a botanical garden in the empty lot next door to his house on Valley Street, and she asked if he would be opposed to it. You mean that land that I often have to call the city about to have the grass mowed? Ciancia said with a laugh. “I was like, no.” Over time, “as I got to know all the women [behind this project], my heart just went out to them.” “I know what loss is like,” he continued; when someone is sick, and you hope that they get better soon, and sometimes have to resign yourself to the fact that they won’t. But that’s a different kind of pain than that experienced by these women, who began one morning thinking they’d see they’re children again — only to have them gone forever. “I just couldn’t imagine what that kind of ripping your heart out” would feel like, he said. Plus, he said with a smile, “I like walking my dog over the bridge.” With that — and with Ciancia’s invitation to all who had gathered to come over to his house for refreshments after the event — the group cut the ribbon, and took a stroll, arm in arm, across the bridge. Pamela Jaynez, Mayor Justin Elicker, donor-neighbor Tom Ciancia, URI Executive Director Colleen Murphy-Dunning, and Celeste Fulcher at Thursday’s presser. The Valley Street memorial garden … … and its sculpture. Elicker greets Jaynez before the start of Thursday’s presser. Murphy-Dunning, with Fulcher, gave a special shoutout to city Chief Structural Engineer Zach Shapiro, who “provided invaluable guidance on how to build a bridge.” Board of Alders Majority Leader Richard Furlow (right) said that eight of his family members have their names written on the garden’s bricks dedicated to city homicide victims. He also said that a house was shot on his street this morning, just two doors down from where he lives. The post Ribbon Cut On Homicide Memorial Footbridge appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less