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Mits Aoki Legacy Foundation 4th Annual Meeting and Community Service Award
November 18, 2018 @ 11:30 am - 3:00 pm HST
Please join us to recognize the outstanding work of Kōkua Mau and the presentation of the 2018 Mitsuo Aoki Community Service Award to Jeannette Kojane, Kōkua Mau’s own Executive Director.
November 18, 2018
11:30 AM – 3:00 PM
Church of the Crossroads
1212 University Ave, Honolulu, HI 96826
11:30-12:00 Registration
12:00-12:15 Welcome and Prayer
12:16-12:30 2018 Mits Aoki Legacy Foundation Community Service Award
12:31-1:00 Buffet Luncheon
1:01-2:00 Panel Discussion: Our Care Our Choice
2:00-2:30 Q &
Registration is closed – no more seats available.
Dr. Aoki’s work focused on holistic healing and end-of-life care. With that in mind, the Panel Discussion “Our Care, Our Choice” will explore how this new state law will allow individuals who are terminally ill, under specific circumstances, to request medications which will give them the choice to die on their own terms. The new law takes effect January 1, 2019. This panel discussion gives our community the opportunity to discuss its implementation and try to understand how it may affect end of life care in Hawaii.
The buffet luncheon will be sponsored by the Mits Aoki Legacy Foundation.
Our Care, Our Choice Panelists:
Sister Joan Chatfield, M.M., Ph.D., Moderator
Sister Joan was a friend and colleague of Reverend Aoki and is the current Vice President of the Mits Aoki Legacy Foundation. She is well known and highly respected as a compassionate and wise community leader who readily speaks out against social injustice. She is a mentor who brings people together from all cultural, socioeconomic and religious backgrounds to share and celebrate similarities and differences. For 36 years, Sister Joan taught in Catholic schools in Hawaii. She has served as the ecumenical officer for the Honolulu Catholic diocese. She became the executive director of the Institute for Religion and Social Change, an organization that promotes interfaith activities, in 1976 and has been a board member of numerous community organizations. She has been recognized as one of Hawaii’s “Living Treasures”.
Jeannette Kojane, M.P.H., Executive Director, Kōkua Mau
Jeannette received her graduate degree in Public Health from the University of Hawaii and her undergraduate degree from Cornell University. She has been involved with hospice and palliative care since 1988, beginning in the field of HIV/AIDS working with the AIDS Memorial Quilt as the Director of International Programs and then in a variety of research and educational positions in Berlin and San Francisco. She has been the executive director of Kōkua Mau since 2009. Kokua Mau is a network of organizations and individuals that brings to the forefront meaningful, thoughtful and sensitive conversations on improving care and support for those with serious illness, especially at the end of life. The mission of Kōkua Mau is in keeping with Reverend Aoki’s commitment to educating the community regarding the care of people with illness and end of life care.
Rae Seitz, M.D., Palliative Care Physician
Dr. Seitz is a founding board member of Kōkua Mau, Hawai’i’s palliative and hospice care organization. Most recently Dr. Seitz was selected to participate on the State of Hawaii advisory panel for the implementation of the Our Care Our Choice Act as the palliative medicine specialist. Dr. Seitz received her training in palliative and hospice medicine at Harvard Medical School in 2001 and went on to become one of Hawai’i’s first board certified palliative care specialists. Dr. Seitz teaches palliative care to healthcare workers, lay persons, and community groups in Hawai’I, nationally, and internationally. In 2013 she was recognized as one of the top 30 visionaries in the field of Hospice and Palliative Medicine by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
Clarence Liu, M.A., M.Div., Hospice Chaplain
Clarence is a retired clinical chaplain from Pacific Health Ministry, who oversaw psychosocial support services and end of life care for the dying with their families at Hospice Hawaii, Honolulu. Clarence received his Master of Arts in Theology from the Graduate Theological Union, in Berkeley, CA. and his Master in Divinity (1972) from St Patrick’s Seminary, Menlo Park, CA. He grew up on the Windward coast and to this day derives peace of mind and spirit from her beaches and mountains. He and his wife Pat divide their time between Honolulu and their grandchildren on the Mainland.
Alan Gamble, D.C.S.W., L.C.S.W.
Alan is the current president of the Mits Aoki Legacy Foundation and is a graduate of the UH Manoa School of Social Work with a concentration in Gerontology and Mental Health. Dr. Aoki became Alan’s teacher and mentor in 1974. Before his death in 2010 he requested Alan to carry on his work in the community with individuals and families encountering death and terminal illness. Alan was a board member of the Foundation for Holistic Healing, created by Reverend Aoki, from 1986 until 2011. The Mits Aoki Legacy Foundation was formed from the Foundation for Holistic Healing following Dr. Aoki’s death in 2010. He has facilitated discussions on Dr. Aoki’s work throughout the community. This past summer he co-taught with Luisa Wyant, LCSW, a pilot graduate course on Death and Dying where he was able to incorporate some of Dr. Aoki’s teachings. He is currently a volunteer with the St. Francis Hospice Program.