For 25 years, Point Loma Nazarene University’s Health Promotion Center (HPC) has provided patients free, holistic, and culturally sensitive healthcare — and with it, dignity.
Nestled in the heart of San Diego’s City Heights, one of the most ethnically diverse and underserved neighborhoods in the county, the HPC is a nurse practitioner faculty- and student-run clinic. Housed on the campus of Mid-City Church of the Nazarene, the clinic offers free healthcare and food distribution to uninsured and underinsured patients, many of whom are immigrants, refugees, or families and individuals with limited access to healthcare.
“HPC is the university’s best kept secret,” said Amanda Thurman, DNP, PLNU adjunct professor of nursing and long-time practitioner at the clinic. “All the good coming out of it — it’s a hidden gem.”
A Vision of Service
The HPC was born in 2000 out of the vision of Margaret Stevenson, Ed.D., then dean of PLNU’s School of Nursing, and Ron Benefiel, Ph.D. With a grant from the Helene Fuld Health Trust, Stevenson and Dottie Crummy, Ph.D., opened small pop-up clinics in the halls of Mid-City Church of the Nazarene. There, they took blood pressures, performed basic exams, and offered guidance to those who otherwise had no access to care.
Their mission was to provide compassionate, collaborative care that addressed all factors impacting a person’s health.
As the clinic’s reputation grew, so did its reach. The partnership between PLNU and Mid-City Church created a sustainable model of holistic community health that would later include medical, dental, vision, physical, and mental healthcare services, all at no cost to patients.
Even when the 2008 financial crisis hit, and funding cuts forced the clinic to close briefly, PLNU made the intentional decision to reopen it. This proved transformative for the School of Nursing and the City Heights community.
Today, the HPC operates as a full primary care clinic, a newly added food distribution center, a dental clinic upstairs, and an educational site for PLNU students. Open twice a week, it serves 12 to 16 patients per day, offering lab work, chronic disease management, cancer screenings, pap smears, dental and vision screenings, vaccinations, and more. When patients need specialty care beyond what the clinic can provide, HPC’s community partners ensure patients receive continued treatment.
A Network of Care and Collaboration
The HPC’s success is made possible through an extensive network of partners, including Americares, Champions for Health, and the Free and Charitable Clinics of California. These organizations provide medications, lab supplies, and funding, allowing the clinic to function much like a standard primary care office, despite being completely free to patients.
“The majority of our patients come from vulnerable backgrounds,” said Thurman. “That can bring trauma, stress, and fear. We remove barriers, whether with language, finances, or time, so people can access healthcare safely and without judgment.”
“The majority of our patients come from vulnerable backgrounds, That can bring trauma, stress, and fear. We remove barriers, whether with language, finances, or time, so people can access healthcare safely and without judgment.”
And the benefits reach beyond just patients, to PLNU students and the county as a whole. Because the clinic provides preventative care and manages chronic conditions, Thurman says, it effectively reduces the need for expensive emergency room visits that would otherwise be paid through public safety-net programs funded by taxpayers.
Care is delivered in both English and Spanish, and appointments often include health education and counseling. PLNU funds staff salaries and supports student workers, ensuring the HPC remains both a cornerstone of community care and a living classroom.
Students from PLNU’s nursing, nutrition, occupational therapy, and athletic training programs rotate through the clinic.
“Our students learn preventative and patient-centered care alongside clinical skill,” said Mary Margaret Rowe, former director of the clinic. “We teach them to see the whole person, not just the illness.”
Expanding Access and Resources Over Time
Rowe has witnessed the HPC evolve from a modest outreach effort into a vital healthcare home for hundreds of families. “From the beginning, we aimed to serve people who wouldn’t otherwise have access to care,” she said.
That mission is reflected in countless patient stories. Rowe recalls one woman who suffered a spinal injury and could barely walk. Through the clinic’s care and physical therapy referrals, she regained her mobility.
“She called me ‘Mama,’” Rowe said, smiling. “Every visit was like reconnecting with family.”
Another moment stays with her: a man collapsed from a fentanyl overdose outside the clinic in 2022. “Our practitioners Amanda and Kristen ran down, administered Narcan, and performed CPR,” she said. “The timing was miraculous; it felt like a God moment.” On top of saving a life, it reminded the team of the deep social and medical challenges City Heights faces, and the importance of being present, day after day.
Building Relationships as a Form of Care
The clinic’s care model emphasizes respect and connection. Thurman credits Rowe for shaping that ethos. “Mary Margaret always taught us to greet people we see on the streets outside the clinic when we walk in, to look them in the eye and acknowledge them,” she said. “Even a simple smile can make someone feel seen and respected.”
For Kamryn Rodriguez, a senior nursing student, that philosophy made a lasting impact. “When I began working at the clinic my junior year, I realized early on that listening is as important as anything else we do in medicine,” she said. “Patients often need someone to hear their story before they even discuss symptoms.”
She has seen many women come in, including young mothers and women with diabetes or high blood pressure. Rodriguez will draw their blood, run health screenings and EKGs, walk them through lab work, and help manage food distribution and nutrition planning. “It’s amazing to see where they are today compared to just a few months back. A lot of them are going through some of the hardest times in their lives and that’s something we can understand.”
Another patient, a young man with schizophrenia, often visited the clinic to read quietly in the waiting room. Once, he entered through a back window. Instead of reacting with alarm, the staff gently redirected him, offering reassurance. “Unless someone poses a danger to themselves or others, we meet them where they are,” Rowe explained. “Every patient deserves dignity.”
From Health to Wholeness
Over time, the HPC realized that medical care alone could not solve the underlying challenges many patients face, especially hunger.
When Thurman and nurse practitioner Kristen Kellogg, now the clinic’s director, learned that nearly 60% of their patients lacked reliable access to food, they worked with Mid-City Church and local donors to start a fresh food marketplace. Each Thursday, the market now distributes produce and groceries to 60–90 families.
“We’ve seen patients’ health transform because of it, Sometimes the first step in healing is ensuring people are nourished and safe. That’s where dignity begins — it shows someone cares.”
PLNU nutrition students help manage the marketplace, providing meal planning and healthy recipes. Other university departments have followed suit: athletic training students provide musculoskeletal care; and occupational therapy students assist patients in improving daily function.
“We’re also trying to tackle mental health, because a healthy mind makes a healthy body,” Thurman said. “Athletic training, too. Most of our patients are cooks, childcare workers, house cleaners, and they have a lot of musculoskeletal issues. By leveraging university resources, we’re able to offer exercises and diagnosis conditions that I’m not trained for as a primary care provider.”
“We are like the conductor of the orchestra,” she continued. “We’re bringing in all these services, as many as we can through PLNU. Our next goal is to bring in translators through the language department.”
“Thanks to PLNU’s support, we’ve been able to grow from a clinic into a community wellness hub,” Rowe said. “It’s what sustains us.”
Educating the Next Generation of Careworkers
Teaching has always been at the heart of the HPC’s mission. Undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students from PLNU work directly with patients under faculty supervision, learning lessons that can’t be taught in a classroom.
“Students learn that listening is key to developing a full assessment,” Rowe said. “Taking the time to get a full account of a patient’s story often reveals much more.”
For Rodriguez, the experience was life-changing. “It confirmed my passion for community health,” she said. “It’s amazing to see how much gratitude patients hold for Amanda and Kristen, all the providers there, because of how much time and dedication they put into their health. This place taught me how to connect with people as a vital part of caring for them.”
Thurman has seen countless students transformed through the experience. “They leave with confidence and an understanding of how social, emotional, and physical factors affect health,” she said. “They learn medicine as service.”
The Next Chapter
As the clinic celebrates its 25th anniversary, its leaders are looking ahead. Their goals include expanding clinic hours, increasing mental health services, and growing specialty care through volunteer physicians. And they would love to connect with anyone interested in helping.
“I’d love to see exercise classes, cooking workshops, and more counseling on-site,” Thurman said. “We’re close to becoming a true one-stop shop for holistic health.”
Funding, however, remains a challenge. The HPC relies on grants, donations, and PLNU’s ongoing support to cover everything from lab fees to medications. “Every year, we face uncertainty,” Rowe admitted. “But the resources have always come through.”
The university’s role is central to that sustainability. PLNU funds salaries, provides student stipends, and ensures the clinic remains aligned with the School of Nursing’s mission of whole-person care.
“PLNU has made all of this possible,” Rowe said. “Their belief in what we do, training students, serving families, and restoring dignity, keeps the clinic alive.”
A Beacon in City Heights
Though the clinic’s work is not advertised as faith-based, its roots in compassion and service run deep. Staff members describe their motivation as a calling rather than a job.
“We just love working together,” said Thurman. “There’s joy in knowing you’re exactly where you’re meant to be.”
“We just love working together, There’s joy in knowing you’re exactly where you’re meant to be.”
The HPC embodies faith in action. Patients are fed, healed, and welcomed as family. Students learn what it means to serve. Rowe, drawing inspiration from Matthew 25:35, reflects, “Every day, our aim is to serve those in need. These verses guide my work: ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; bring me the poor.’”
Thurman also sees faith as a guiding principle in compassionate care. “Faith and care can mean different things to different people, but for me, it always comes down to seeing the person fully.”
From its beginnings as a single-room outreach to a cornerstone of community care, the HPC has been able to help City Heights thrive because of the university’s commitment to serving its neighbors.
“PLNU changed my life,” said Thurman. “To now serve through PLNU and impact others — it’s a full-circle moment. The joy of the Lord really is what sustains us.”
As it looks toward the future, toward growth, more collaboration, and continued partnerships, the HPC’s mission remains the same: to improve health, nurture wholeness, and ensure every person who walks through its doors is cared for and respected.
“We are here to serve, to teach, and to model what it means to care fully,” Thurman said. “That’s what makes this clinic special.”
