Chair of School of Social Work board of advisors named Living Treasure

Patti Lyons, MSW, chair of the UH Mānoa Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work board of advisors,was recently named a Living Treasure of Hawai‘i for her lifelong work in the area of child welfare. The Living Treasures award is a program instituted by the Honpa Hongwanji Mission to recognize individuals for their significant contributions toward building a more humane society in our islands. 

 

The group recognized Lyons as a staunch advocate for the treatment and prevention of child abuse. She joins an exclusive group of other Living Treasures, including Nainoa Thompson and Puanani Burgess, who are also on the School’s board of advisors. Others are Mary Kawena Puku`i, Clorinda Lucas, Gabby Pahinui, Maxine Hong Kingston, Richard Lyman Jr., Irmgard Aluli, Claude Du Teil, Don Ho, Vladimir Ossipoff, the Rev. Mitsuo Aoki, and Amy Agbayani, to name just a few since the inception of the award in 1976. 

 

Some of Lyons’ contributions include being the former president and CEO of Child and Family Service; developing spouse abuse shelters and group homes for children; initiating Hawai‘i’s Healthy Start Program in the Philippines; becoming the inaugural president and CEO of Consuelo Foundation at the request of Consuelo Zobel Alger, its founder and benefactress; being the founder of Consuelo Foundation’s Ke Aka Ho`ona, a subdivision of 75 homes where underprivileged families could own their own homes with affordable mortgages provided they pledge to stay free of alcohol, drugs, and violence and give back to their communities; and chairing the Hawai‘i Family Support Institute.