Makakilo woman spends her senior years helping at-risk youth
By Diane Ako
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HONOLULU (KITV) — A Makakilo activist says fighting for political causes she believes in is her way of Aging Well.
Carolyn Golojuch was first interested in helping domestic violence victims, then fought for LGBT rights. Lately, Golojuch puts a lot of time on her own nonprofit, Rainbow Family 808.
Golojuch is no stranger to Hawaii’s State Capitol. She testifies on a lot of bills during the legislative session.
The roots of her resistance started 77 years ago in a Colorado farming community, with what her birth mother endured from her stepfather, who “came back with PTSD from World War II and gave her a concussion. The next morning I was born, and I think all of that has its influence on me,” she started.
Grown-up-Golojuch chose to use her power for those who have none.
“I think my life is thanking her by helping other abused children,” she said,
Her maiden name also provided a long lesson in prejudice.
“The last name Martinez: that did put me in a different spotlight in Southern California in the 50s and 60s,” she said.
She became a social worker, and turned her attention to LGBT rights when her son, Michael Junior, came out as gay in 1995. He, by the way, is the chair of the Democratic Party of Hawaii’s LGBT Caucus.
“I was appalled at the rights that his father and I had that he didn’t, and it just mushroomed from that because I’ve always been a strong believer in the US Constitution,” declared Golojuch.
All these decades, Golojuch has contributed to causes that balance the scales of social justice. In 2013, she founded her own nonprofit, Rainbow Family 808, which buys food and supplies for homeless youth.
“That would be a crime for me to know they’re hungry and not do something about it,” she explained.
Though time-consuming, she says it keeps her aging well, “because it keeps me alive. It gets me out of bed in the morning. I have arthritis, diabetes, fibromyalgia; if I stayed and just thought about that and felt, ‘Oh, woe is me’ – but when I know I have something to do, I get up, I take my shower and I put my feet to the fire.”
Golojuch says though she formally retired from social work, she never really can – or will.
“I can’t stop myself,” she laughed – and our community is luckier for it.
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