The Board of Directors of Saint Agnes Medical Center, located in Fresno, California, is proud to recognize Sister Mary Clennon, CSC, RN with The DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sister Mary Clennon was born on a farm outside of Chicago and was aware at a young age that she wanted to live her life in service to others. Her older sister entered the convent first and she followed in 1954. She attended Saint Mary's College, the sister school to the University of Notre Dame and motherhouse. She took her vows in 1957 and graduated with a bachelor of nursing degree from St. Mary's 1960. Subsequently, she continued neuro studies at the University of Colorado.
In Indiana, Sister Mary worked as a nurse clinical specialist, Director of Home Health, and assistant hospital administrator before moving to work at a hospital in San Fernando, California. Her career in Fresno began in 1972, working as an RN at the original Saint Agnes Hospital, established by the Sisters of the Holy Cross in 1929.
Leaving Fresno in 1979, she joined the Catholic Relief Services, serving as Deputy Director Catholic Relief Services International from 1979-1987. Her first assignment was to care for Cambodian refugees in Thailand. Sister Mary helped refugees who had fled the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, where an estimated 2 million people died from disease or starvation or were brutally murdered. Resources were minimal and creativity was required to "get people nourished enough so they could walk," she said. She also worked at the densely populated Khao-I-Dang camp where 60,000 people were crowded into one square mile and the final scene from the movie "The Killing Fields" was filmed.
After the Israeli invasion in 1982, Sister Mary was sent to Lebanon from 1982-1984 where, with the airport bombed, the only way in and out of the country was by boat. She lived in the biblical towns of Tyre and Sidon, where she helped distribute food and medicine to Palestinian refugees. Sister was then in El Salvador, Ethiopia, and the Philippines from 1984-1986. Working with Catholic Relief Services was her most meaningful ministry. "It opened up the world to me," Sister Mary said of her international assignments. "I think that's probably the biggest thing: to give and live, not as a tourist, but to go and live among the people."
Sister Mary eventually returned to healthcare administration in 1987 in New York and then as Director of Nursing for a 180 bed long-term care facility in Louisiana. In April 1997 her religious community asked her to return to Fresno to oversee Holy Cross Clinic at Poverello House. The Clinic provides free medical and dental services to the poor and homeless in the Fresno community.
One year later, Sister Mary accepted an additional responsibility as Director of the Holy Cross Center for Women, located in downtown Fresno and operated by Saint Agnes. The Center serves as a respite, safe haven, and learning center for homeless and low-income women and their children. It offers counseling and referral services, spiritual support, educational opportunities, and skills training.
When Sister began at Holy Cross in 1998, they saw an average of 40 women a day. Now the Center serves an average daily of 130 women and 20 children. The Center provides shower facilities, laundry, clothing, and social interaction. Educational classes include learning English as a second language, the "You are Worthy" program, overcoming personal and domestic challenges. Sewing and needlework are available in a well-organized sewing, craft and fabric room maintained by the Fiber Art Guild. There is also a nine-unit computer room for research. "The Gathering Place" is a daycare center where "kids are taken care of while Mom takes care of her needs".
The six-week summer program - Camp Sunshine - is comprised of a Literacy Program (ages 4 to 8); a Cultural Literacy Program (ages 9-12) and a Junior Enrichment Program for teens that provides valuable curriculum-based learning and volunteer experiences. In 2018, a total of 60 youth participated.
Sister Mary was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International in 2019 in honor of the contributions made in her name.
While Sister Mary Clennon's career and ministry have taken her to many areas of the world, often under dangerous conditions including war zones, she is quick to note that "at heart, I am still a nurse." We are confident and grateful that Sister Mary Clennon revealed God's love through her international medical ministry as a Sister of the Holy Cross, and the mission of Saint Agnes Medical Center. She personifies the words of our Mission Statement as a "compassionate and transforming healing presence to the communities we serve."
Sister Mary Clennon is truly a remarkable nurse.