Most Inspiring People of 2000

Finalist:
Debi Faris

Gives abandoned babies proper burials

Baby Matthew was found dead, stuffed in a duffel bag by the side of a California highway. He never would have had a funeral, or even a name, if housewife Debi Faris hadn't heard his story on the news and felt compelled to call the coroner to find out what happened to unclaimed dead babies. (They are cremated and held until there are enough of them to put into a common grave.) Matthew was the first of 41 abandoned babies who have received a name, a funeral, and a loving burial in the Garden of Angels, a small cemetery set up by Debi and the organization she started. Discovering that the policmen or other professionals who find these dead children are profoundly affected by their discovery, she invites the finder to name the child and attend the burial.

Spurred by the plight of these tiny victims, Debi also became an activist for "safe abandonment" laws, to give desperate mothers of newborns the option of leaving their babies in a hospital without fear of prosecution. Through the work of Debi and others like her, California passed such a law last September. It goes into effect on January 1.

"No one should ever feel that they are so alone in this world, or so desperate, that they think the only thing they can do to distance themselves from their child is to open the lid of a trash can or dumpster."--Debi Faris.



Beliefnet Story Related to Debi Faris:

Cradled by Strangers

Links Related to Debi Faris:

Garden of Angels Foundation Website

A Refuge for Throwaways (Time Magazine)

Garden of Angels (Oprah.com)