Fountain in Memorial Garden Even though the skies threatened rain, the turnout for the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) and the Friends of Juvenile Justice (FJJ), in observance of National Victims’ Rights Week had a great turnout for their press conference on April 26 to dedicate the newly landscaped Memory Garden to victims of crime in the state.

The Memory Garden surrounds the Bill Rogers Community Connections Center on DJJ’s Broad River Road Complex. The project has been in the development stages since the opening of the Center two years ago. A cascading water fountain serves as the focal point for the garden and is where a commemorative marker will be placed honoring crime victims.

While the garden is being built to honor crime victims, Loretta S. Neal, the DJJ coordinator of public affairs, said that it will also benefit the incarcerated juveniles.

“It’s a serene place where the children can go for quiet time,” she said. “They can meditate or give thanks or just have time to themselves.”

The garden will also be used as a classroom, Neal said.

“It will be an outdoor laboratory or classroom for them,” she said. “They will be the ones tending the garden and learning a new skill.”

The Bill Rogers Community Connections Center was built by the Friends of Juvenile Justice, a non–profit organization that collaborates with DJJ to provide programs, advocacy, and funding for prevention, rehabilitation, and reintegration programs, their press release said. FJJ gave the Center to the State of South Carolina in September of 2008. The new garden is being landscaped at the expense of FJJ and will complement the original smaller DJJ Victim’s Garden that is also on the Complex, Neal said.

One of the speakers at the dedication was Dale M. Wells, a criminal domestic violence survivor. Wells shared his personal story of moving on after a brutal attack from an ex–girlfriend who shot him five times. Also speaking were Charlotte Berry, FJJ Board chair, and director and Veronica Kunz, director of South Carolina Victim Assistance Network (SCVAN), who accepted the gift of the Memory Garden on behalf of victims of crime in the state.

The dedication ceremony was geared to correspond with this year’s Victims’ Rights Week in South Carolina.

“We want the crime victims that we deal with to know that we care about their welfare,” Neal said. “We maintain a relationship with them and try to be there for support for them.”