Joy Gilchrist-Stalnaker
Joy has been fighting for the survival of the Weston State Hospital for over a decade. She was part of the Weston Hospital Task Force and the Weston Hospital Revitalization Committee. Joy played a major part in the park festivals, car shows and other events that took place to raise money for repairs to the hospital.
Joy's grandmother's brother was hit by a train when he was young while picking up coal from the tracks and was in the state hospital until he died there.
"We have to remember that medications today are very different," said Joy. People with mental illnesses such as bipolar "walk the streets everyday, we don't know who. But in those days there was nothing to treat them." Joy's mother always said people had to control it. But Joy disagrees. She knows some people aren't strong enough, and mental illness it not something that can be taken away.
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Also back in those days, nursing homes weren't so common. Mostly, nursing homes and the state hospital were the same. Old people who had no where to go often ended up at the hospital.
Joy remembers one time she took a cameraman from channel 12 into the hospital. They were talking about the patients slamming doors, and Joy decided to show him. She slammed a door, and "he about lost it. He said he had chills down his back."
To Joy the hospital is a tribute "to the men and women that died there, who lived there, and who survived there and the craftsmanship of men from the 1850s. It's a treasure. It's a national treasure.
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How do you save an old building?
"You have to get the community on your side," says Joy. "And realize that you're not always going to win." In the many years that Joy worked so diligently to save the Grand Old Dame, she came across many obstacles and challenges. She didn't always win, and although it was beyond frustrating, she kept going. Joy said that it helps to have more than community support. "We did not have enough people with skills needed that could donate their time. In a big city, you could find architects and engineers who would be willing to do that, if they were in love with the project." For Joy, there are a lot of things that help with the saving of a building. "You have to get yourself organize. And lose lots of sleep. And maybe you have to be able to dream."