Gwendolyn Atkins on Her Career as a Public Health Nurse Devoted to Serving Her Community Newtown Alive

As an African American public health
nurse, the late Gwendolyn Atkins spent a lifetime healing bruises in the
community.
For nearly three decades, retired
nurse Gwen Atkins walked door to door in Newtown neighborhoods, public housing
areas and in migrant camps teaching young mothers about childcare, treating
childhood diseases, monitoring the health of aging residents and making sure
seasonal workers received medical services. She set up a makeshift clinic in
the garage of Stephens Funeral Home. “We’d treat impetigo and ring worms. She
became extended family members of their patients.
The line between work and play often
blurred. Nursing and being on call, accessible and always available was a way
of life. “If I had to do it all over again, I would choose public health
nursing and I would choose serving my community. That’s what I love more than
anything else,” Atkins said.