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Congrats Helen Waukazzo and Dr. Kathy Hull…

Honored by CA First Lady Maria Schriver with 2009 Minerva Awards!

Congratulations to San Francisco Bay Area residents Helen Waukazoo and Dr. Kathy Hull, Minerva Award winners! These amazing women were honored at the 2009 CA Women’s Conference for their service on the frontlines of humanity.

The Minerva Award, created in 2004 by CA First Lady Maria Shriver, is aptly named for the Roman goddess Minerva who graces the CA State Seal. The awards annually acknowledge remarkable women who have changed CA and the nation with their courage, strength and wisdom.

Helen Waukazoo-The American Indian Friendship House

Helen Waukazoo turned a tramatic event into her life’s work. At age 13 she was torn from her beloved family and sent to boarding school. In a government attempt to integrate American Indians into a non-Indian world, she was forbidden to honor her own culture and language.

She never forgot the trauma of that event.

As a young Native American woman living in San Francisco, she and her peers faced a different sort of discrimination…lack of support services and no understanding of her people’s culture. In the 1970’s she cofounded The American Indian Friendship House to bridge the divide between the Native American and White American world.

Today under Helen’s guidance, The Friendship House has grown into an 80-bed facility in a brand new building, providing alcohol and substance abuse treatment. Utilizing a unique blend of Native American traditions with non-Indian substance abuse strategies, Friendship House has a higher than average treatment success rate.

Helen created a domino effect by healing her wounds through action. What started as a way to help her people mend their life and find their way back to family and community, is today the model of programmatic excellence for American Indian recovery programs.

Dr. Kathy Hull-George Mark Children’s House

The loss of a loved one is never easy. And when that death is a child…the pain that ripples through a family is excruciating.

In 2004, Dr. Kathy Hull co-founded George Mark Children’s House in San Leandro, CA to help families cope with the looming trauma created by the death of a child.

George Mark was born out of Dr. Hull’s experience of losing two brothers at a young age and her work as a clinical psychologist at Oakland Children’s Hospital. Dr. Hall noticed that the only options in the U.S. for dying children were adult settings…making this an even more devastating experience for the child and family.

Today George Mark sits on five peaceful acres of trees and gardens… a beautiful and airy CA ranch style home that provides safe haven to families of children with incurable diseases. More than 200 families a year call George Mark their temporary home. As residents they find a sanctuary of support and community that understands their special needs

Currently, George Mark is the first and only freestanding facility providing pediatric respite and end-of-life care in the U.S. Thanks to the trailblazing vision of Dr. Hull, there is now a model to develop other centers and Dr. Hall hopes that George Mark is the first of many!

Agnes Stevens and Dr. Jane Goodall

Fellow CA woman Agnes Stevens and world renowned Dr. Jane Goodall, were also honored with a 2009 Minerva Award. Agnes Stevens was honored for her work in starting the Schools on Wheels program, dedicated to helping homeless children stay in school. You can learn more about her award here.

Dr. Goodall was honored for her lifelong work in making the world better for humans, animals and the environment. You can learn more here.

The SF Bay Area Women’s Journal would like to congratulate all of the remarkable 2009 Minerva Award winners! Thanks for making our world a better place!