No. 6-03
WHEREAS, Evelyn Lee, LCSW, Ed.D., served as the Executive Director of Richmond Area Multi-Services Inc. (RAMS) and as the Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco; and,
WHEREAS, Dr. Lee’s enthusiasm for RAMS and its work, her support of staff and clients of the agency and her vision of the many ways that the organization could make an even greater contribution to the City resulted in the organization’s expansion into areas such as developing and operating a partial hospitalization program with the SFGH Department of Psychiatry, expanding mental health promotion and counseling services to children and youth throughout the City and providing services at the Broderick Residential Care Facility; and,
WHEREAS, Dr. Lee had more than 36 years of clinical, management and administrative experience in mental health and human services, and over 30 years experience in classroom teaching, supervision of mental health professionals and students, workshops and consultation on mental health issues; and,
WHEREAS, prior to serving as Executive Director of RAMS, Dr. Lee was the Chief Program Director of the Department of Psychiatry at San Francisco General Hospital, where she helped to develop culturally competent treatment programs for acutely ill clients; and,
WHEREAS, Dr. Lee was an avid teacher and presented lectures, published books and articles and started the Asian psychologist training program at RAMS, which attracts trainees from all over the country; and,
WHEREAS, Dr. Lee was dedicated to addressing health disparity issues for individuals with limited English proficiency and instrumental in the development of multilingual materials on access to care; and,
WHEREAS, Dr. Lee was particularly interested in improving cross-cultural understanding and training among health providers, and she designed a curriculum for health care providers to work with interpreters and organized international exchange programs with Russia, Taiwan, China and Canada for mental health providers; and,
WHEREAS, Dr. Lee was dedicated to community work, and through her involvement with the NICOS health coalition championed the call for Asian communities to address gambling as a problem of addiction; and,
WHEREAS, Dr. Lee was deeply dedicated to and involved in the Buddhist church, and co-founded the Center for Compassionate Living, which is dedicated to Buddhist study and meditation; and,
WHEREAS, Dr. Lee passed away suddenly on Wednesday, March 26, 2003; and,
WHEREAS, Dr. Lee will be remembered for her compassion, her dedication, her abundance of energy, her spirit and her infectious “can-do” attitude; and,
WHEREAS, the loss of Dr. Evelyn Lee will be felt throughout the San Francisco community; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED; the San Francisco Health Commission acknowledges and honors Dr. Evelyn Lee for her lifelong commitment and unselfish dedication to people’s mental, physical and spiritual health and her contributions to the people of San Francisco; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Health Commission conveys its heartfelt condolences to the family of Dr. Evelyn Lee.
I hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was adopted by the San Francisco Health Commission at its meeting of April 8, 2003.
Michele Olson, Executive Secretary to the Health Commission