Newsmaker
Monday, August 10, 1998
Name: Garrett Toguchi
Age: 37
Position: Executive director, The Arc in Hawaii
Education: Master's in economics, University of Hawaii
Interests: Surfing
When Garrett Toguchi in 1992 was offered a job at The Arc in Hawaii on Diamond Head Road, he envisioned going surfing after work every day. Helping the challenged
But as operations manager of the 44-year-old nonprofit organization that advocates and provides services for people with mental retardation, catching waves became the last thing on his mind.
"I've gone to the beach two times after work in the six years I've been here," said Toguchi, who is known to put in 12-hour workdays.
While his goal is to catch waves at least once a week, Toguchi may not be seeing more of the beach anytime soon. He recently was appointed executive director of The Arc, which provides direct services to about 275 people in homes, apartments and care centers on Oahu and Kauai.
The Arc was opened in 1954 by parents of children with mental retardation. At the time there were no services or public schools accepting the children.
Toguchi served on its board of directors while his brother, who had Down's Syndrome, went there. His brother died in 1992, just a few months before Toguchi accepted the position "to help pay back in the memory of my brother" and to help make a difference.
Toguchi's goal is to make The Arc the primary advocacy organization for people with mental retardation in Hawaii. "We want to try to ensure civil rights for people with mental retardation and give them a chance to determine for themselves where they want to learn, live, work and play," said Toguchi, who also advocates for the disabled as a Board of Education member.
The Arc helped shape Hawaii's current system of care in which the state and Medicaid splits the costs for services. It's involved in educating the public and developing legislation to provide more community-based services, sorely needed for people with mental retardation.
Meanwhile, there is an "eternal waiting list" of adults with mental retardation waiting to get into residential treatment homes, Toguchi said. The Arc estimates there are 1,200 people in Hawaii who need long-term services.
Parents don't realize that their child who graduates or leaves the public school system will be on this waiting list, Toguchi said. Meanwhile, adults with mental retardation are either staying at home, where families aren't always equipped to care for them, or in care homes, where they don't get social interaction or some type of training.
Among the goals Toguchi will pursue are increasing membership by getting more parents and families involved in their children's activities with The Arc; increasing the organization's competitiveness so people become comfortable in choosing The Arc as their service provider;improving recruitment and retention of staff; and increasing and better managing funds.
Most importantly, Toguchi's feels his mission is to dissolve the stigma against people with mental or physical disabilities and help empower them by forging a coalition among organizations for the disabled.
"Once people see the disabled as just people, the treatment they'll be getting would be fairer and equitable and would be at a point where they can flourish in the community," he said.
By Debra Barayuga, Star-Bulletin
