NASW-CA Member Lillian Hyatt Nominated for Andrus Award

By Lisa Kopochinski, NASW-CA Editor

Professor Lillian Hyatt (right), a long-time social worker,
NASW-CA member and contributor to California News has been nominated for the 2014 AARP Andrus Award for Community Service.                                                                                                                                      

The association’s most prestigious volunteer tribute recognizes outstanding individuals who are sharing their experience, talents and skills to enrich the lives of others.

Nominees for the AARP State Andrus Award for Community Service must meet the following eligibility requirements:

• They must be 50 or older.
• The achievements, accomplishments or service on which nominations are based must have been performed on a volunteer basis, without pay.
• The achievements, accomplishments or service on which the nominations are based must reflect AARP’s vision and mission.
• The recipient must live in the awarding state.
• This is not a posthumous award. 

AARP’s commitment to volunteer services can be traced back to Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, whose motto “to serve, not to be served” has shaped the association’s service efforts at the national, state and local levels.

“My nomination of her follows from my admiration for her life of service in the cause of our common humanity,” says Jack Cumming, director of Research for the National Continuing Care Residents Association, who nominated Hyatt for this award.

“Lillian Hyatt is a remarkable woman of commanding intellect and energy who has devoted her life to service to others, first as a social worker, then as a mediator building bridges between Christians and Jews, and most recently as an advocate for those people who move to Continuing Care Retirement Communities and who find themselves, thereafter, denied a voice in the governance of the community in which they live.”

“My reason for being happy about it is not because I need another award,” says Hyatt, “but because it emphasizes what I have been doing in the way of advocacy for 10 years. The reason I rejoice about getting an award or nominated is because of my work in the legislature.”

At present, Hyatt is crafting an article regarding AB 2171, a bill relating to resident care facilities for the elderly in California. This bill—which is currently in suspension—would establish specified rights for residents of residential care facilities for the elderly, including, among other things, to be treated with dignity and respect, to personal privacy of accommodations, medical treatment, personal care and assistance, and to confidential treatment of their records and personal information, as specified. A violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor.

Outstanding role model
Professor Hyatt is truly a wonderful role model for elder care advocacy and a sterling example of self-empowerment. Throughout her career and to this day, Hyatt who is 89 and legally blind, continues to make a difference with her work involving nursing home standards and elder care.

At the age of 57—following a career that involved promoting religious and cultural understanding through the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the International Council of Christians and Jews—Hyatt began her graduate social work studies and earned an MSW from California State University San Francisco.

She later became an adjunct professor at San Francisco State University and was an innovator initiating a ground-breaking program to research and teach students and professionals about the impact on families of drug and alcohol abuse, and acted as the program’s first director.

In retirement, Professor Hyatt founded the Coalition of Interfaith for Interfaith Understanding, serviced on request of the president of SFSU on a 2002 task force for inter-campus relations, and researched a book on the religious underground of the former Soviet Union.

Her career as a social worker took a new turn when she entered a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in San Francisco and became an advocate for herself and other residents concerning unfair practices, joined and became active in a statewide association of CCRC residents and started an independent organization of residents at the CRCC where she resides. She continues to be an active columnist for several publications, including NASW-CA’s  California News.

In recognition of her expertise, AARP named her policy consultant on CCRCs in California. A true social worker for all seasons, her motto is “Don’t be part of the problem. You can be part of the solution if you want to be.”

We congratulate Professor Hyatt on her lifetime of service and contributions and for her nomination for the AARP Andrus Award for Community Service.

 Lisa Kopochinski is the editor of California News and has been with the NASW-CA for six years. She can be reached at naswnews@naswca.org.