About the Ho'omenemene Award Honorees

Honpa Hongwanji Hawai’i Betsuin

Na Mea Kupono Learning Center

Xi Psi Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.

Rev. Dr. Gary C. Augustin

David C. Livingston

Honpa Hongwanji Hawai‘i Betsuin in Honolulu is the main temple of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawai‘i (Hawaii Kyodan). The Betsuin offers Sunday services and Buddhism classes, education for children and teens, and hosts numerous organizations and cultural activities. The Betsuin is a strong advocate for mental health and a positive presence in the community. Since 2000, as part of their community outreach efforts, Honpa Hongwanji Hawai‘i Betsuin has provided a safe, dedicated counseling room for Samaritan Counseling Center Hawai‘i to serve clients. The Betsuin grounds are a place of healing in the urban landscape, with graceful architecture and a peaceful atmosphere that contributes to one’s overall health and well-being.

Na Mea Kupono Learning Center in Waialua is a wetland taro patch fed by springwater and has been tended by the Garrido-Bolosan family for many years. Kalo is the main food staple of Native Hawaiians, but its importance goes beyond food; in the Hawaiian creation chant, the Kumulipo, kalo is the elder sibling of all Hawaiians. Na Mea Kupono is an educational, spiritual, and therapeutic environment for youth, family, military service members, and all the residents of Hawai‘i. Children and families can gain hands-on experience about wetland taro farming, interact with Hawai‘i's natural environment, and learn the concepts of Hawaiian values and caring for the land.

Xi Psi Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. in Hawai’i is an empowering organization dedicated to voluntary service educating the public on health initiatives, mentoring youth, awarding scholarships, supporting organized charities, and promoting legislation for social and civic transformation. Sorority members are warmly celebrated and welcomed to an energetic and compassionate sisterhood dedicated to being “Community-Conscious, Action-Orientated.” Now celebrating 100 years, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. was founded in 1920 at Howard University as a movement to provide true Service, to embrace Scholarship, to set a standard for Sisterly Love and to define the noble concept of Finer Womanhood.

Rev. Dr. Gary C. Augustin is a military family and life counselor, licensed marriage and family therapist, adjunct faculty member at Chaminade University, and ordained minister in Honolulu. He is a caring and compassionate counselor who specializes in pastoral counseling and is certified in critical incident stress management. Since 1997, he has served as clinical director and staff counselor of Samaritan Counseling Center Hawai’i, twice serving as executive director. He was previously executive director at Samaritan Counseling Center in St. Joseph, Missouri and the Allentown Center director of the Pastoral Institute of the Lehigh Valley. Since 2008, he has volunteered on the Hawaii Disaster Medical Assistance Team, and was deployed to Puerto Rico in 2017 after Hurricane Maria and Saipan in 2018 after Typhoon Yutu.

David C. Livingston is a financial advisor at Ameriprise and talented event photographer. He spent 25 years as a YMCA Director in California and Hawai‘i and was the founder of TriMark of Hawaii, Inc., a direct mail advertising company that deals with fundraising, fund development, and photography. David has impacted the lives of thousands of people in Hawai’i, by donating his time to numerous organizations to photograph their events, through his e-newsletter “Things Worth Saving” that reaches over 20,000 business leaders in Hawai‘i, and through his involvement with numerous nonprofit organizations such as the Coalition for a Drug Free Hawaii, the Central YMCA, and the Salvation Army Family Treatment Services Advisory Board, as well as Rotary, the Navy League, the March of Dimes, the American Heart Association, the United Way, the Salvation Army, and the USS Missouri.  

About the Ho'omenemene Awards

The biennial Ho'omenemene (Compassion) Awards recognize individuals and organizations whose work over many years exemplifies what we can accomplish as interfaith advocates and active participants, and whose work promotes hope and healing to Hawai'i communities.

About Samaritan Counseling Center Hawai'i

Founded in 1989, Samaritan Counseling Center Hawai'i provides professional and accessible behavioral health counseling sensitive to the spiritual traditions of individuals, families, and communities in Hawai'i, regardless of their ability to pay. The Center also participates in community outreach and events, and serves as a resource for clergy and congregations of many spiritual traditions. For more information, call 808-545-2740 or visit www.samaritancounselingcenterhawaii.org.