A street corner in Brooklyn now bears the name of one of Brooklyn's community leader, Luther Mook who co-founded HCS in 1997.
In Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, the corner of E 15th Street and Avenue T is officially known as the Luther Mook Corner. Mayor Bloomberg signed a proclamation naming the street and a street naming ceremony happened on Friday, April 8, 2005. Luther Mook's sister carried the street sign as community members including HCS board and seniors, New York State Senator Golden, City Council member Mike Nelson and many of Luther's friends and supporters gathered for the street naming ceremony to remember their beloved friend.
Luther Mook was born in Brooklyn, New York. His family were among the first Chinese American families in the Homecrest area, settling over a century ago. The family ran one of the first Chinese hand laundries and were well respected in the Chinese community.
Luther was a graduate of Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois. Upon graduation in 1959, Luther was asked by Dr. Emory Ross, one of the world's outstanding experts on African affairs and a consultant for the US government what he intended to do with his life. Luther replied that he was interested in the foreign service. Dr. Ross immediately sponsored him for a tour with The Experiment in International Living and so he spent his first summer after graduation in Africa.
Soon after returning from Africa, he was called into the military service for three years. Luther returned to civilian life for one year and then was recruited by the US Department of State.
In 1997, he helped found Homecrest Community Services, after seeing a growing need for social service in the Brooklyn Asian community. He contributed greatly to helping the community as well as serving on various boards including as a member of the Advisory Board of the New York State Office for the Aging and as the First Vice President of the Greater Southern Brooklyn Health Coalition.
In 2000, he became a member of the Brooklyn Coalition on the Aging and was the First Vice Chair of the Council of Community Advisory Boards and the NYC Health and Hospital Community Advisory Board. He was founder and chair of the Asian American Republic Coalition and served as Director of Coalitions for the New York State Republican Committee. In 1996, he was elected to the Electoral College, thereby becoming the first Asian ever elected.
As a member of the Brick Presbyterian Church since 1983, he was ordained an Elder in 1989.
