Energy unbounded! That’s how I would describe Ila Briggs Halby. Ila would come into class bouncing with some news or idea, and it was delightful to be one of her teachers. She loved high school, and took advantage of every opportunity to learn, especially with Señoras Murphy and Ditchfield taking her on class trips to Spain and Mexico. Her world opened up, and there was no stopping this young woman!
Attending Boston University’s occupational therapist program, she did internships at Perkins Institute for the Blind and community outreach in a working-class neighborhood in Dorchester. During her summers on Martha’s Vineyard, she volunteered at Camp Jabberwocky, not knowing that her work with the disabled would be her passion in the future. Note: Ila and Zeno Mountain Farm recognize and use the terms “disabled” and “disability,” and see that not as a negative but as a genuine part of a person’s identity.
After Boston University, in order to acquire her license as an occupational therapist, Ila did internships in Austin, Texas; Stockholm, Sweden; and in the general psychiatric ward at Massachusetts General Hospital. During the summers, she returned to the Vineyard, building her waitressing schedule around volunteering at Camp Jabberwocky.
In her first year at Jabberwocky, she met Peter, her future husband. They both knew that they wanted to work in a full-time “Jabberwocky-like” program, and so they began one in Lincoln, Vt. They purchased land and began the gritty work of actually building the buildings, establishing the year-round program, developing staff primarily of volunteers. and assuring that it remained free for all participants. The farm is called Zeno, after the road it was built on, and is now in its 18th year. No matter what your disability or ability is, in this community there is a role for you to play, to give back, and to belong. They celebrate the diversity of disability, and continue creating a yearlong program of activities, workshops, and programs all over the country, but their home base is Vermont.
You make us proud, Ila. Please keep up this most important work, as your website states, “Moving the needle toward a more loving and equitable world for all.” We so need it, especially now! zenomountainfarm.org.
Marge Harris was a teacher at MVRHS for 27 years. You can contact her at margeharris@comcast.net. This column appears twice a month.