Easter Seals Disability Services

About Us

History and Background

Being a Part of the Bigger Picture

Senior Management

Board of Directors

Foundation Board

Newsletter

National Mission

Easter Seals Hawaii 990 Form

About Us

Easter Seals Hawaii provides exceptional services to ensure that all people with disabilities or special needs and their families have equal opportunities to live, learn work and play in their communities.

Easter Seals Hawaii has been serving special needs children, youth and adults for over 60 years.  We provide more than 500,000 house of direct service annually to individuals and families across the state.

All funds raised by Easter Seals Hawaii remain in Hawaii and help us carry on our tradition of creating solutions and changing lives.

 

 History and Background

In 1946, Edward and Olga Sultan founded the Sultan Foundation Nursery School. With the further support of a group of business leaders and parents, committed to helping children with disabilities, the vision of the Sultans was expanded and The Easter Seal Society for Crippled children was founds. Charter members included Dorothy Devereux, Olga Sultan, Governor John Burns and Judge Chuck Mau. After expanding its mission to include serving adults with disabilities, the name of the organization changed to Easter Seals Hawaii.  Duke Kahanamoku and Hilo Hattie have also been an important part of the Easter Seals' family.

The Sultan School offered the first Early Intervention program of its kind in the United States and has since served as an Early Intervention model at the national level.  The Sultan Early Intervention program continues to be the cornerstone of Easter Seals Hawaii.

 

Being A Part of the Bigger Picture

Easter Seals Hawaii is part of a national organization that has been providing services and programs to individuals with special needs for 90 years.  Easter Seals is recognized universally for its system of identifying the needs of people with disabilities and providing services to effectively meet these needs.  National Easter Seals was instrumental in the passage of the 1992 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

National Easter Seals was founded in 1919 in Ohio with the help of the Rotary. Easter Seals is acknowledged as the second largest care organization in the world. It has over 100 affiliates across the country and for the past 24 years has been recognized by the National Health Council as the agency who allocated the largest amount of program dollars for direct clients services in the United States.

 Return to top