In January 2002 the Cameron House Board of Directors appointed a Healing Task Force to explore what we as a community might do to begin to mend the many broken relationships, the hurts and the pain brought on to our community by incidents of abuse and molestation by a former Executive Director, F.S. Dick Wichman.

The Presbytery of San Francisco has issued a letter of apology to survivors, Cameron House alumni, members of the Presbyterian Church in Chinatown and the community of support around the Presbyterian mission in Chinatown. Click here to read the letter. If you would like a copy of the letter mailed to you, please contact Mary at Cameron House.

A weekend Retreat for survivors will be held September 9-11 at Commonweal in Bolinas. Co-facilitators for this retreat will be Dr. Satsuki Ina and Dr. Benjamin Tong. Nine persons from the survivors' group have signed up already and there is room for one more person. Contact Doreen Der-McLeod if you are interested in attending. We will take a waiting list and schedule another retreat at a later date for those who wish to attend, but could not because of space limitations.

At its June meeting, the Board of Directors of Donaldina Cameron House expressed their support for a request by survivors that a trust fund be established to help fund the costs of healing. The Board sent a letter to World Wide Ministries of the United Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. Click here for the text of that letter.

Listed below are links to materials we hope will nurture healing.

One hundred persons participated in a all-day Healing Workshop on April 30, 2005 to discuss openly the sexual abuse that occurred during Dick Wichman’s 30 years as Director of Cameron House. Led by Dr. Satsuki Ina, the highlight of the workshop was the open panel sharing by Buddy Choy, Willie Ng, Tom Pong, Elaine Chan-Scherer and Noel Chun, who described the different ways they had been victimized by Wichman’s actions. Members of the Healing Task Force (Andy Choy, Sharlene Hall, Henry Wong, Jeanne Choy Tate and Bradford Woo) also added their personal reflections on the legacy of pain that Wichman has brought us.

Many who attended the workshop said this was the first time they had heard any victim speak personally about how Wichman had abused them. Because victims had always been unnamed, the devastating impact of Wichman’s molestations had never been heard, or felt, as personally as on this day. There was tremendous appreciation for the victims who shared openly, and great sorrow to know the pain they have endured for years. There was also a deepening recognition of how Wichman had manipulated and seduced our entire community, both boys and girls, to passively give in to his power and control. Though the air was heavy in Culbertson Hall for most of the workshop, there was also a deep sense of relief and joy that the truth had finally been spoken. The day concluded nicely with a healing worship led by the a team from San Francisco Presbytery, which conveyed its apology for the past and its support for the ongoing healing process. Evaluations received showed participants were overwhelmingly appreciative for the day, and were eager to have future, on-going conversations.