Courage Is Here
Free at Last cofounder Priya Karim Haji
receives new Courage to Change award
Two weeks after the shattering events of
September 11th, Rep. Anna Eshoo surveyed a packed
room, then spoke about courage. "We don't have to
have a national catastrophe to know what courage
is, because courage is here."
Stanford Vice Provost LaDoris Cordell
Presents the New Courage to Change Award
The setting was Free at Last's first
annual Courage to Change award dinner,
established to honor a local visionary who had
made an outstanding contribution to positive
social change. The event was held September 28th
at the Crown Plaza Cabaña Hotel in Palo
Alto.
At the event, the first Courage to Change award
was given to Priya Karim Haji, cofounder of Free
at Last and first executive director, serving for
seven years. Also attending to honor Priya were
Assemblyman Joe Simitian, Stanford Vice Provost
LaDoris Cordell and Roland Williams, Director of
Behavioral Health at Good Samaritan Hospital, as
well as Free at Last founding board members David
Lewis and Vickie, who together with Priya were
the cofounders of the organization.
In 1993, at the height of East Palo Alto's crack
epidemic, Priya-then a 22-year-old Stanford
undergraduate-joined with David, Vickie, and
other residents to build a path through a social
tangle of addiction, violence, HIV infection,
incarceration, unemployment, lack of education
and broken-up families.
Out of this effort, Free at Last was created, a
project the would require Priya's steadfast
commitment for the rest of the decade. Today the
agency has a 55-person staff, a $2.6 million
budget, comprehensive programs and regional,
state and national recognition. For her central
role in this achievement, Priya was selected by
the Free at Last board to be first to receive the
award.
As Stanford Vice Provost LaDoris Cordell
presented the Courage to Change award, she spoke
of Priya's qualities and character. "With your
honesty, your agile mind and your enormous heart,
you have demonstrated compassion for the
disadvantaged and those defeated by addiction.
You are a remarkable teacher and leader, who is
eager to share what you have learned and to
impart to others a sense of ownership and
purpose."
A short documentary on Priya and a videotape of
the awards ceremony are also available. For more
information, call 650-462-6996.
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