Our Vision
Our vision is an Orlando without a Pulse museum and only 100% public memorials built on public property.
Our vision is exactly what the City of Orlando envisioned before Barbara Poma decided to take this on for herself. Since we clearly state our vision here, we have no need to participate in the OnePulse Foundation's antics. This project should be a public project with no one profiting off of the mass shooting, like Mayor Buddy Dyer had planned:
For a memorial larger than the one currently in Colonialtown, it should be modeled after other mass shooting memorials and constructed on public space. The OnePULSE Foundation claims, "In doing research, it was also discovered that these institutions are not built by municipalities or government agencies, but by foundations governed by business and community leaders invested in their success." We criticize OnePULSE Foundation's supposed years of research and all of their methodologies. Within a matter of days, we found some great examples of public and volunteer memorials, most built specifically in response to mass shootings. How could an organization created for this sacred task miss these? Why are they still not talking about these alternatives to survivors and victims' families? We believe this is because no one will not profit off of these models.
We love and respect these efforts below. These efforts are what we should have done all along. Instead, we trusted someone who placed a retail kiosk on sacred ground; who erased victims by removing their photos and replacing them with a wall of local events that took place in the shooting's aftermath. We deserve better. Our grief should no longer be exploited.
The 7/20 Memorial (Aurora) - No one was paid. All volunteers.
Sandy Hook, which has been a public endeavor managed by the municipality.
The Veterans Memorial at Lake Nona
Their website states that the "Memorial Park Foundation, Inc. is a totally volunteer organization. No member, director or officer has ever taken any payments as compensation for their services in conjunction with the planning and implementation of the construction of this memorial. This project was the dream of a very special group of veterans that are not seeking any reward or compensation for this endeavor. All of the officers and board members personally donated to the Foundation for the construction of the Memorial." This is the kind of statement we would expect from an organization in charge of Orlando's memorial.
