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October 21 @ 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Founders Speaker Series
Radical Hospitality: Stories of Care and Connection at the Health Commons
Katie Welle Clark ‘98
DNP, RN, CFCS, PHN
PRESENTATION SUMMARY
This presentation will focus on sharing stories of connection in often minoritized communities and will describe the model of care at the Health Commons, which are health-focused drop-in centers rooted in the principles of hospitality, mutuality, and human dignity. In these spaces, care is offered free of charge, without proof of need or identification, to individuals experiencing homelessness, housing insecurity, poverty, and social marginalization. Faculty and students at Augsburg University have led this work since the 1990s. Key student reflections and lessons learned will be highlighted.
PRESENTER BIOGRAPHY
Kathleen “Katie” Clark graduated from Hill-Murray High School in 1998. She received her BSN from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire and her master’s and doctoral degrees in transcultural nursing from Augsburg University. Katie currently serves as the Chair of the Department of Nursing and the Executive Director of the Augsburg Health Commons at Augsburg University, where she has taught for almost seventeen years.
When Katie came to the university, there was one site of the Health Commons that served the unsheltered community in downtown Minneapolis. Since this time, the Health Commons locations have expanded; there are now five locations, including Cedar-Riverside, North Minneapolis, and the Eastside of St. Paul. The practice model under these sites, originally started with Katie and her nursing students, has been replicated in various communities and universities, and many publications and presentations have been disseminated in the discipline and outside of it regarding its impact and unique practice model. Over 150,000 recorded visits have happened at the CH, and over 1,800 nursing students have participated at the various locations.
Katie is the winner of the Father Greg Tolaas ’74 Distinguished Service Award – Hill-Murray High School 2025, Distinguished Professor Award of Service – Augsburg University 2021, and has been selected as the Minnesota Association of Registered Nurses 2025 fellow to the National American Nurses’ Advocacy Institute, amongst other honors and awards. Before coming to Augsburg, Katie worked for eight years as an inpatient nurse at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in oncology–hematology and the intensive care unit. She has traveled to over 20 countries. In her free time, Katie loves spending time with her three children, her husband, Dave, who is also a nurse, and her extended family.
All alumni, students, current and past parents, grandparents and staff are invited to join us!
Tuesday, October 21, 2025 | 6:00 p.m. Social | 7:00 p.m. Speaker
Hill-Murray Commons and Chapel
To RSVP for this free event, please CLICK HERE or contact
Judy Hajlo Schwartz at jschwartz@hill-murray.org or (651) 748-2445
The Alumni Founders are a committee of Hill High School and Archbishop Murray High School alumni whose mission is to reconnect alumni from 1962 through today. Past speakers from the series include:
Tom Naps, Ph.D., Ryan McEnaney ’04, Pat Barrett Wolff ’65, Deb Montgomery, Craig Rafferty ’64, Dr. William Frey, former St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington, Archbishop Bernard Hebda, Professor David Schultz, Dave Durenberger, Dr. Joe Lasnier, Matt Birk, Professor David Lanegra, Pete Breckle, Laurie Sturdevant, Tom Hanson, Mary Keyes, and Kieran McNulty.
