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Restorative Justice and Healing in Healthcare

Timaka Wallace HeadshotTimaka Wallace ’23 is a Chicago native who earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree through Augsburg’s DNP Transcultural Nursing Leadership tract and serves as an adjunct professor. Her connection to Augsburg goes back to 2014. “I was already in a psychiatric nurse practitioner program on the East Coast, however, I wasn’t having a good experience at the school,” Timaka recalled. “I thought because I was a bit of an older student, the culture of the school and seeing a representation of myself wasn’t important. But I learned a valuable lesson in never going to a school I didn’t visit.” 

She decided to take a leave from school and, during that time, visited Minnesota to check out Augsburg. After spending two days on campus with Department Chair and Associate Professor Joyce Miller and retired faculty member Janet Lee Stockwell, Timaka knew Augsburg was the right place for her. “Even though this trip was in 2014, every so often over the years they would reach out to me to see how I was doing.” Timaka ended up completing her graduate program and when COVID hit in 2020 she had already been accepted to Augsburg. “It was difficult,” she shared candidly. “The Transcultural Leadership group was going to visit countries and assist with nursing from a variety of cultures and we were robbed of that opportunity because we couldn’t travel, but I ended up getting the community my spirit yearned for so it’s still been a great experience.”

A pivotal moment for Timaka came when she gave a presentation in April 2022 on how daily activities connect to the cross-generational trauma transmission in African American culture. “It was a heavy topic, but the feedback I got from my professor and Joyce demonstrated to me that they understood the change that needs to happen. I knew I was in the right place on that day.” As the nursing program continued to increase its efforts towards dismantling racism in healthcare, leadership intentionally sought out African American representation and leadership in these conversations. Later, Timaka was asked if she would be interested in co-leading a course with Dr. Katie Clark, which she eagerly agreed to.

For Timaka, the opportunities she has received as a student and adjunct professor in the nursing program are centered around stewardship and what it means to give back. She is a recipient of the Lloyd A. and Barbara A. Amundson Nursing Scholarship Honoring Dr. Paul Mueller ’84. “This scholarship is really a full circle moment,” she shared. “It warms my heart to hear they [The Amundsons] formed a connection with Dr. Mueller on their healing journey and paid homage to him through this scholarship, and now Dr. Mueller is leading the Great Returns campaign effort! This is what paying it forward looks like.” Timaka hopes she can find ways to continue these acts of kindness by supporting future nursing students. “It’s so important to have conversations with students like me who are beneficiaries of these scholarships of how to pay it forward as you get yourself aligned to financially do so.”

To learn more about the Great Returns campaign efforts visit our website

Leaving a Legacy Gift Now

Linda ’85 and Ron Ott chose to give a Charitable Gift Annuity to Augsburg to support Augsburg’s nursing students.

“I was always grateful for my time at Augsburg and wanted to give back,” says Linda.

Linda was already working as a nurse for a few years when she decided to go back to school to earn a baccalaureate. There weren’t many programs that had what she was looking for, until she found Augsburg.

“Augsburg faculty and the school meets students where they are. One example of this was with my transfer requirements for a physical education course. I was in a golf league and my professor said, ‘The spirit of this requirement is met.’ Not all schools will work with students like that.”

After graduation, Linda worked as a nurse for the VA hospital for many years. When Linda and Ron found themselves in a position to give back to their alma matters, they decided to set up Charitable Gift Annuities.

“A Charitable Gift Annuity is a way for us to do something now that ensures Augsburg has funding. It also provides tax advantages, and a little income back to us each year. Quite frankly, Augsburg made the whole process very easy, even to split our gift between a few different programs we want to support.”

Small for our students, big for the worldLinda requested their gift to Augsburg be split between the nursing program and nursing student scholarships. She wants other students to be able to achieve higher degrees in nursing, since she was able to advance her nursing career through Augsburg’s program.

With the income that comes back to them each year through the charitable gift annuity, the Ott’s love to travel. They routinely travel to new places and enjoy visiting Switzerland in the summer.

Interested in learning more about a charitable gift annuity?

If you are interested in learning more about using a charitable gift annuity to establish a gift at Augsburg, please visit Plan My Legacy. Institutional Advancement Director Heather Riddle has also recorded a video about what CGA’s are and how they work. You can view it on her YouTube channel.

If you would like to speak with someone about giving, please contact:

Amy Alkire
Assistant Vice President, Institutional Advancement
612-330-1188
alkirea@augsburg.edu

Supporting Future Nurses at Augsburg

Lloyd and Barbara AmundsonAt the end of 2020, Lloyd Amundson decided to start a nursing scholarship at Augsburg. But this wasn’t the first nursing scholarship he’d established. It wasn’t even the second. Lloyd and his late wife, Barbara, have multiple nursing scholarships set up around the country, from Maui to Sioux Falls and now at Augsburg.

“Nursing scholarships have been our pride. My wife and I were sold on the nursing profession because we feel like they’re the masters of the health care industry. Doctors are good, of course, but when the doctor walks into a room, the nurses have everything ready for them to go,” says Lloyd.

One of Lloyd’s passions is a nursing program at Mayo Clinic in Rochester he and his wife helped launch years ago, which helps nurses continue their education.

“I have a good friend named Leeann Johnson who has really been a good pusher for these things, so now we’re doing more to urge nurses to go on to higher education to earn a master’s degree in nursing.”

Lloyd graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1951. While in school, he didn’t know much about Augsburg other than it was a smaller school near the U of M and had a good athletics program. Lloyd followed Auggie Jeroy Carlson’s career. Also known as “Mr. Augsburg,” Jeroy played baseball, basketball, and football as a student and was part of four MIAC championship teams. Years later, Lloyd and his wife started going to Mayo Clinic and met Dr. Paul Mueller ’84. Paul is a Regent Emeriti of Augsburg University, is a past chair of Augsburg’s Board of Regents, and currently serves as Chair of Augsburg’s Great Returns campaign.

“We’re nuts for Mayo since they’ve taken care of us over the years. My wife had pancreatic cancer, it was a routine checkup and Dr. Mueller caught it. He is a really, really good guy, a good doctor. He was such a supporter of my wife.”

So when Lloyd was looking to establish another scholarship, he thought of the university that Dr. Mueller loves so much and started the Lloyd A. and Barbara A. Amundson Nursing Scholarship Honoring Dr. Paul Mueller ’84.

Lloyd hopes this scholarship will inspire more students to go into nursing.

“It’s a good job, it’s a responsible job, and we need more people in there. I would like to see this nursing program get a lot bigger. We’re working our way into a bad problem of not having enough nurses. As the population is getting older, like I am, we need to be careful to graduate enough qualified nurses.”

Lloyd also hopes his gift will encourage others to create their own scholarships for students.

The purpose of this scholarship is to provide financial support to Augsburg nursing students, prioritizing students who demonstrate academic achievement and financial need, and are passionate about nursing.

Nancy Mueller, President Paul Pribbenow and Paul Mueller
Nancy Mueller, President Paul Pribbenow, and Paul Mueller ’84. Photo courtesy of Coppersmith Photography.

“I have had the pleasure of knowing Lloyd Amundson for many years. I also knew his wife, Barbara. Their love for each other and their communities was obvious. After his wife died several years ago, Lloyd has expressed his enduring love for her and compassion for others through generous philanthropy. Lloyd is a strong advocate for education, especially of future nurses. Lloyd appreciates the student-centric values of Augsburg University and the outstanding nurses that graduate from Augsburg—many of whom now work at Mayo Clinic. Lloyd’s generous gift will support the training of many future Augsburg nursing students.”

– Paul Mueller ’84

Chair of Augsburg’s Great Returns campaign

 

Donors who give annually to academic scholarships or create permanent scholarship endowments reduce student debt and provide financial support to those who may not otherwise be able to afford college. These gifts encourage students in highly valued academic disciplines, reward students for high achievement, and inspire students to pay it forward.

If you are interested in supporting an existing scholarship or creating a new scholarship, please visit Giving To Augsburg University.