CHW Spotlight: Social Service Navigator Genevieve DeRego

All content pulled from Hawaiʻi Community Health Worker Association, April Newsletter.

This month, we highlight Genevieve De Rego, a passionate community health worker and mother serving as a Social Service Navigator at Vibrant Hawai’i on Hawai’i Island. Before entering community health work, she spent over twenty years as a professional photographer, an experience that sharpened her ability to listen, read nonverbal cues, and help people feel seen and at ease.

Genevieve also brings deep wisdom through lived experience to her work. As a survivor of domestic violence and a mother, she knows what it means to depend on others when life feels uncertain. She says, “To have people help me, how could I not show up and do the same for my community?” Through her work, she models for her daughter and her clients what healing, wellness, and generational change can look like, showing that, regardless of labels, community care can shape a different path forward.

Today, she draws from both her creative career and personal journey to support those who are often stretched thin, especially individuals in the ALICE population working long hours without the time or energy to navigate complex systems. Whether helping clients access programs, advocating, or simply being a trusted presence, Genevieve focuses on truly seeing people and bringing a humanness to complex situations.

For those considering community health work, she says,

“Dedicate yourself to get the training and knowledge and surround yourself with other like-minded people who have chosen this path - it is valuable.”

Thank you, Genevieve, for your dedication to the Hawai'i island community!