CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2018 AWARDEES:
Outstanding Organization: Lili‘uokalani Trust has provided and conducted suicide prevention and mental health training for thousands of residents in our Island communities. They also provide support, leadership, cultural training and services for those dealing with the suicide of a loved one, those who struggle with lived experiences, and those who provide services to people at risk.
Outstanding Government Leader: Ann Mahi, Complex Area Superintendent, has moved the Nānākuli-Wai‘anae public schools toward a trauma-informed approach. Through her leadership, classroom management strategies have shifted to fostering community in the classrooms, to using restorative disciplinary practices that repair relationships, and to implementing mindfulness practices for both teachers and students to manage daily stress.
Outstanding Community Mental Health Leader: Jeny Bissell, a nurse for over 30 years, co-founded the Ho‘oikaika Partnership Coalition with a mission to continuously expand public knowledge and use of the five protective factors to further the goal that every child in Maui County will live peacefully, free from any type of abuse or neglect.
Outstanding Community Mental Health Leader: Heather Lusk is the Executive Director of the Community Health Outreach Work to Prevent AIDS (CHOW) Project and the Life Foundation. She is a leader of the impactful Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) Hui, a coalition of 30 community, county, and state partners to assist persons with chronic substance abuse, mental health issues and homelessness, demonstrating that partnerships are the key to a healthier community.
Outstanding Mental Health Peer Advocate: Mary Anne Quidilla is the volunteer facilitator of the Women on Wellness group at Hawaii’s National Alliance on Mental Illness Chapter and is a Hawai‘i Certified Peer Specialist (HCPS) at Helping Hands Hawai‘i. As a peer living with depression and anxiety, Mary Anne is an example to others by positively focusing on total mental and physical wellness.
Outstanding Family Advocate: MeeLing Dang, Family-to Family Teacher and Family Support Group Facilitator of Hawaii’s National Alliance on Mental Illness Chapter. Over the last 10 years, MeeLing Dang has been NAMI-Hawai‘i’s most consistent and dedicated teacher of the Family-to-Family educational course. Her dedication to breaking the silence and reducing the effects of stigma has inspired many of her students to become instructors, support group facilitators, or leaders in the mental health community.
