Executive Director’s Corner - March 2023

Dear friends and family:

EPIC ‘Ohana is celebrating its 25th year as a nonprofit organization in 2023. We are so very grateful for each and every one of you. We have been able to raise up the voices of families and young people in ‘Ohana Conferences, Youth Circles, Wraparound meetings, convenings like Nā Kama a Hāloa because of your support. EPIC’s approaches to strengths based, respectful convening and connecting has made a big difference for many families and children.

Last week I read a wonderful book by Tom Coffman, “How Social Work Changed Hawai‘i: From Practice to Social Justice.” I was struck by how the path that we are forging now began with the courageous leaders profiled in the book. The author says “While social work is most often about helping people cope, its underlying drive is to create a better world. At important moments in Hawai‘i’s history, the hard work of helping others has led to new practices, laws and social programs, including those uniquely suited to Hawai‘i’s diverse people. In their journey’s the pioneers and visionaries profiled in these pages became catalysts of social justice. Through their life stories, they challenge us to ask: Where are we today, and by the standards of their values, what does the future hold?”

Since January I have been immersed in a sometimes confusing world of the legislature, working to establish a Mālama ‘Ohana Working Group to bring transformative change to the child welfare system. I am an attorney, not a social worker, but I have been immersed in this child welfare world for 40 years now. “If I see further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Isaac Newton. This book profiles the giants. Here is a brief peak at the profiles:

• Clorinda Low Lucas was a native Hawaiian woman who went to social work school in New York in the 1930s. She worked to establish higher welfare payments and was the first female trustee of Queen Lili‘uokalani Chidlren’s Center.

• We know Ah Quon McElrath for her tenacious work with labor unions, but her approach to that work was as a social worker. Her mission was to raise the voices of the workers while also making sure that the needs of the children and families were addressed.

• Myron B. “Pinky” Thompson was involved with many aspects of Hawai‘i government and policy. He earned an MSW from the University of Hawai‘i in the school of social work that is now named after him. He was probably the only native Hawaiian in his class. He led the Queen Lili‘uokalani Children’s Center and was instrumental in bringing the voices of giants like Mary Kawena Pukui and Richard Likeke Paglinawan to the task of documenting and uplifting Hawaiian culture.

• Masaru Oshiro, grew up in Waipahu and became a political force in the Democratic party. He continued the work of Pinky Thompson that became Nana I Ke Kumu. And as I reflect on the many ways that Lili‘uokalani Trust and Kamehameha schools are working now to partner with CWS to improve outcomes, I see the shoulders of this giant.

• Lynette Paglinawan, worked with her husband Richard Paglinawan to bring about a Hawaiian cultural renaissance in social work practice. Aunty Lynette will soon be retiring from her role as Kupuna in residence at the University of Hawai‘i at West O‘ahu, where she has been training practitioners in ho'oponopono.

• Patti Lyons came to Hawai‘i as a young woman and fiercely spoke up about the needs of the children on the Wai'anae coast. She was critical of what was then Child Protective Services under the Department of Health and Human Services and successfully advocated for change.

• Andrew Chang worked in county and state government setting up programs especially for troubled youth. He was a colleague of most of the people in this book.

• The last profile is about our own Susan Chandler. Susan’s work was always about the intersection of policy, social justice and social work. We certainly stand on this giant shoulder with her vision for conferencing and wraparound in Hawai‘i.

I am not doing justice to these profiles, but wanted to give you a peek. Unfortunately the book is not available on Amazon or Barnes and Noble right now. It looks like it is only available at Watermark publishing. Our EPIC ‘Ohana staff knows that I like to do “reader reward” Easter eggs hidden in emails to see if anyone is actually reading.

With aloha

Laurie