Every life has value. This belief inspired Anna Hunt Marsh to found the Brattleboro Retreat in 1834, and it still drives our work nearly 200 years later as a leading mental health hospital providing compassionate care. Your support matters. We rely on donors to increase access to mental health care, support those most in need, advance innovative programs, and ensure our long-term stability. Your gift today helps make this care possible when it’s needed most.
“I’m so grateful my son had so many people who sought to understand him, understand his struggle, and give him opportunities for healing. I’m beyond devastated to lose him. And now I’m more committed than ever to ensuring the Retreat can be there in empathy for those like my son.”– Justin Johnson, Brattleboro Retreat Chair of the Board of Trustees, Business Consultant, and Father
A story of caring, loss, and commitment
Justin Johnson first came to know the Brattleboro Retreat as a supporter and consultant, drawn to its clear commitment to treating every patient with dignity and respect. That relationship became deeply personal when he returned to the Retreat as a father after his 14-year-old son Ethan, was hospitalized following a suicide attempt. During those 12 days, Justin witnessed the Retreat’s clinicians provide expert, compassionate care—meeting his son with empathy, skill, and humanity, and giving him a chance to keep living.
Today, Justin serves as Chair of the Brattleboro Retreat’s Board of Trustees. In this role, he sees how the same commitment he experienced as a parent has guided the Retreat for nearly 200 years. Founded on the principle of “moral treatment,” the Retreat has long believed in the dignity of each person, a belief that continues to shape care today.
Earlier this year, Justin lost his son. In the midst of devastating grief, his gratitude for the caregivers who sought to understand and support his son has only deepened, along with his resolve to ensure that the Brattleboro Retreat remains a place of empathy, excellence, and hope for families facing similar struggles.
We invite you to read Justin Johnson’s letter to Retreat supporters, shared as part of our winter appeal, and consider honoring someone you love with a gift in their name. Your support sustains compassionate, expert mental health care and affirms the dignity of every person who turns to the Brattleboro Retreat. If you choose, gifts made in honor or memory of a loved one will be recognized in the Retreat’s annual report and on a canvas displayed on campus.
Areas of support
Our donors are essential to the care we provide at the Brattleboro Retreat. You can provide critical support to people in need by helping us in one of these areas:
Fund for the Brattleboro Retreat – Contribute to the Fund to improve patient care and experience through program enhancements, staff training, patient financial assistance, and improvements to our beautiful campus.
Endowment Fund – Make a legacy gift, sustaining the Retreat in perpetuity.
Children’s Services– Provide life-changing enrichment activities to the children in our care through increased activity outings and transportation options, and furnishings and equipment for activities.
We recently gathered for a special evening of purpose and celebration at the 2025 Brattleboro Retreat Gala, held on Friday, September 19 at Stone Garden in Westmoreland, NH. The event honored Elizabeth Catlin with the prestigious Anna Marsh Award and raised funds for the Retreat’s Endowment Fund—helping to secure the future of mental health care in our region.
Rebecca Pelkey, Grand Madam President, Fraternal Order of Eagles
Giving back the gift of healing
“The Brattleboro Retreat gave me my life back. Choosing to support them isn’t just about gratitude—it’s about helping others find the same hope and healing I did.”
When Rebecca Pelkey was elected Grand Madam President of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, she was given the opportunity to choose a national fundraising project. Her choice was deeply personal.
Years ago, during a difficult chapter in her life, Rebecca turned to the Brattleboro Retreat. The care and support she received left a lasting impact—one that continues to shape her outlook, her leadership, and her commitment to mental health advocacy.
Today, as she travels the country leading one of the largest charitable fraternal organizations in North America, Rebecca is using her platform to give back to the place that helped her heal. Through fundraising events and awareness campaigns, she’s rallying Eagle members around a cause that touches every community.
With her support and the generosity of the Eagles, Rebecca is helping to ensure that others who are struggling can find compassionate, expert care when they need it most.
If you would like to make a gift to the Brattleboro Retreat, including a gift of appreciated securitiesor a bequest, please contact our Office of Development at 802-258-4366, or write to us at:
Brattleboro Retreat Office of Development 22 Anna Marsh Lane P.O. Box 803 Brattleboro, VT 05302
The William Rockwell Society honors a remarkable tradition of philanthropy by recognizing Retreat employees who have contributed $10,000 or more in support of the Brattleboro Retreat’s mission. These individuals embody the spirit of our first and longest-serving superintendent, William Rockwell, who in 1834 returned nearly half of his salary to help sustain the hospital in its earliest days.
2025 Rockwell Society Inductees2024 Rockwell Society InducteesAnna Marsh Society
The Anna Marsh Society is named in honor of Anna Hunt Marsh (c. 1770–1834), whose visionary $10,000 bequest established the Brattleboro Retreat in 1834. Recognized as the first woman credited with founding a hospital for the mentally ill, Marsh envisioned a humane approach to care grounded in dignity and moral treatment. The Anna Marsh Society recognizes donors whose leadership gifts of $10,000 and above carry forward her enduring legacy of compassion, innovation, and commitment to mental health care.
Abigail Rockwell Society
$5,000 to $9,000
Sarah Bradley Society
$2,500 to $4,999
James Tyler Society
$1,000 to $2,499
Edmund Osgood Society
$500 to $999
Shailer Lawton Society
The Shailer Lawton Society is named in honor of Dr. Shailer Upton Lawton (1893–1965), a psychiatrist, internist, educator, and philanthropist with deep roots at the Brattleboro Retreat. Raised on the Retreat’s grounds and shaped by its founding values, Dr. Lawton carried forward a lifelong commitment to compassionate, whole-person care and to expanding access to treatment and education regardless of means. The Shailer Lawton Society recognizes donors whose annual gifts of $250–$499 help sustain this legacy of generosity, innovation, and belief in human potential.
