PRESS RELEASE: NOVEMBER 15, 2007
Harmony Hill School Opens Walking Labyrinth

The stones are arranged in a sort of spiral, the path they form circular and meandering and ultimately leading to a center point. The path is supposed to represent a journey into ourselves and back out to the world.

The stone garden, or a walking labyrinth, opened October 18 month at Harmony Hill School, a private, nonprofit school that provides treatment and education for behaviorally disordered children.

The labyrinth, which is typically used for mediation and prayer, was created by students and staff with the guidance of North Kingstown landscape artist Kurt Van Dexter. It was made in honor of Sandra L. Fyfe, a 58-year-old Bristol resident and senior clinician who worked at the school for five years before she was killed in an automobile accident on Route 146 in North Smithfield on May 13, 2006.

The garden is an appropriate memorial to Fyfe, explains Janice DeFrances, president and CEO of the school, because it will be used by school therapists in one-on-one and group treatment sessions. Students will also be able to walk the garden on their own.

"It is a nice, good energy place," DeFrances says. "It's a peaceful site where the students can meditate and heal."

DeFrances says the school financed the project through individual donations and a $3,500 grant from the VSA Arts of Rhode Island, a nonprofit that provides opportunities for children and adults with disabilities to actively participate in the arts. The funds allowed the school to hire Dexter, who has helped design community gardens and spaces throughout the state.

Adler Brothers Construction, based in Greenville, donated the stones and cleared the wooded lot just north of the main school building where the garden is located. Students and volunteers pitched in this summer to lay down the stones and to make the garden presentable.

Established in 1962 and situated on 120 acres on Harmony Hill Road, the school takes in students that are deemed no longer able to be handled in a normal school setting or in a community-based mental health program. It offers residential, day and community treatment programs, as well as therapeutic and psycho-educational services. The school mostly handles boys ages 8 to 18.

The past year has been busy for Harmony Hill School, according to DeFrances, who took over duties of running the school in June 2006. DeFrances, a former Narragansett Elementary School principal and special education program director, said the school unveiled a new, $75,000 library last November. The school opened Psychological Diagnostic Associates, a children's mental health clinic, in March in North Kingstown, representing its first major venture beyond Glocester. And Harmony Hill is working to extend its programs even further beyond its campus, allowing students to better transfer back into the community, DeFrances said.

The school also hopes to kick off a capital campaign to build a recreation center on its campus. DeFrances said students currently use the local public school athletic facilities for sports.

 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2007
25th Annual Golf Tournament
Rhode Island Country Club
150 Nayatt Road
Barrington, RI

During the past quarter century, the Harmony Hill School Charity Golf Tournament has raised more than $150,000 to help Harmony Hill become prominent in the special education field and in the treatment of troubled youth.

Thank you for helping us make this the most successful golf tournament yet!

 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2007
Harmony In The Garden
The Botanical Center at Roger Williams Park
Providence, RI

Harmony Hill School's Annual Fundraiser Honors Mayor David N. Cicillini.

Thank you!

 PRESS RELEASE: NOVEMBER 22, 2006
Harmony Hill School names new Library in Memory of Irene & Harry Garabedian

Dr. DeFrances & Aram Garabedian

Chepachet, RI -- Harmony Hill School, a private residential and day treatment program for boys with emotional and behavioral health issues has named its new library "The Irene & Harry Garabedian Library" in memory of Aram Garabedian's parents.  The ribbon cutting ceremony was held Tuesday, November 14, 2006.

"Thanks to Aram's help with raising funds for this project we now have a new library and media center, with computers, books, and educational software.  Aram Garabedian has dedicated his life to helping those in our society who are most in need and the board of trustees of Harmony Hill School thought naming the library the "The Irene & Harry Garabedian Library" was an honor most deserving of Aram Garabedian and his family," said Dr. Janice DeFrances, CEO and President of Harmony Hill School.

Over the past 20 years Aram has been very generous with his time and financial resources.  While he has served as President of Bliss Properties and Co-Managing Partner of Warwick Mall, numerous non-profit organizations have benefited from Aram's goodwill.  He has provided financial support as well as space for non-profit promotions at the Mall and other sites in Providence and Newport.

In addition to the help he provides through his business endeavors, Aram has served over six years as a member of the Board of Directors of the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Red Cross and Rhode Island Meals on Wheels.  Although these organizations are grateful for his many financial contributions, they are most appreciative of Aram's creativity and the personal time he has given to their programs.  In 1997 Aram received the Red Cross Service Award and the following year received the organization's Impact Award.

Aram traveled to Armenia after the December 7, 1988, earthquake and joined Sylvia Hassenfeld, President of the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) to secure a site for a new Children's Rehabilitation Center.  He returned to Armenia for the dedication of the Center in 1992.  In 1994 Aram was the recipient of the Rhode Island Armenian-American Man of the Year recognizing his many contributions to his community, state and nation.

In 1998, Aram received the Big Brothers of Rhode Island Service Award, and in 1999 he received the Amicus Award from the Genesis Center in Providence.

Aram has generously supported projects such as the proposed Armenian Heritage Museum, the Armenian Genocide Memorial at the North End Burial Ground, the Holocaust Museum, the Firefighters Fund, the 9/11 Fund, and several clinics and hospital construction projects in Armenia.  Aram was a major supporter of the Knights of Vartan in their efforts to build new schools in Armenia.  He has also been supportive of the Western Cranston Little League, CLCF, and Edgewood Cranston Sports organizations when they have called on him for help.

The Garabedian Library at Harmony Hill School is much more than a typical library.  It has 8 computer terminals with internet connections and over 700 new books, with two rooms, one in which can be closed off for quiet reading.  The book formulary was designed by Follett Library Services for books tailored to our population and education plan.

Speakers at the ceremony, who all thanked Aram for his generosity and support, included: Harmony Hill School Board Chairman John Kent; CEO & President Dr. Janice DeFrances; David C., Harmony Hill School's Student Council President; and Aram's sister, Mary. Performing a traditional Armenian dance was Anna Marie Danayan of Cranston, and providing great Armenian food were Mr. & Mrs. Danayan.

Many of Aram Garabedian's family, friends and coworkers also attended the dedication ceremony.