NORMAN — Longtime Norman nurse and community, school and church volunteer Kathy Heiple will receive the Sam Matthews Social Justice Award from The Xenia Institute March 1.
The award is named for the late Sam Matthews, a Norman Realtor credited with breaking Norman’s racial housing barrier in the late 1960s by selling a home to an African American couple.
Keynote speaker at the dinner is Jay Wilkinson, a motivational speaker, author and son of legendary OU football coach Bud Wilkinson. His latest book, “Dear Jay, Love Dad,” was recently published by OU Press.
The dinner will be at the First Christian Church and begins at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $30 or $210 for a table of 8. More information is available and reservations can be made by calling Bob Thomas, 321-8682.
Heiple is being honored for her work in starting Health for Friends, a medical clinic serving Norman’s working poor who lacked health insurance. It began in 1985 in a former motorcycle shop garage near the hospital.
When the hospital purchased the property for expansion, Norman businessman and developer Gene McKown donated a small house for the clinic that was only seeing about 10 patients a week.
Volunteer doctors, nurses, lab techs and pharmacists worked evening shifts at the clinic which began seeing many more in the more visible location. They then moved to a building on Gray Street but that, too, was later sold.
Dr. Michael Blue donated the land where the clinic is now located on Himes Street, west of Porter Street. Moore-Norman Technology Center students built the building which was later enlarged.
Heiple credits much of the clinic’s success to the hundreds of volunteer medical professionals who staffed the clinic over the years. Today, the clinic has paid and volunteer professionals seeing patients.
In 2011, the clinic recorded 4,232 medical visits, 3,948 dental procedures and filled 26,479 prescriptions.
She has been a longtime volunteer at Norman Regional, St. Thomas More Catholic Church, All Saints Catholic School and Full Circle Senior Adult Day Center.
In 1992, Heiple was named one of President George H.W. Bush’s “Thousand Points of Light” for her work with the clinic.
