Nursing scholarship honours legacy of community health champion

By Karen Cook

A new Faculty of Nursing graduate scholarship will honour Charlotte Firth, BN’89, who exemplified excellence in community development and health promotion. Firth passed away from leukemia in August.

“This is the only way I can make sense of her death,” says Dr. Candace Lind, assistant professor in the faculty who initiated the scholarship in Charlotte’s memory. “I wanted to honour Charlotte’s passionate advocacy and social action for and with communities. She was compassionate and generous and had an unflagging optimism. Above all, I really admired her commitment to ‘walk alongside’ communities, partnering with them for health promoting change.”

Firth worked most recently at the Acadia Community Health Centre in southeast Calgary. She displayed a professional commitment to the community development principles in her daily work, says co-worker Carole Tomiyama, and brought energy and enthusiasm to her community partners, stakeholders and most importantly, community members.

“Charlotte strongly believed that the future of community health nursing was in providing nursing students with a strong clinical practicum. She went out of her way to provide the best clinical experience for each nursing student she worked with,” stresses Tomiyama.

Firth’s three children—Kathy, Tom and John—are pleased with Lind’s drive to establish a memorial scholarship. “Our mother loved nursing and if, through this scholarship, someone can carry on her legacy in a similar fashion, we would be so happy,” says Kathy.

The Charlotte Firth Memorial Scholarship in Community Health Nursing is open to full-time graduate students in the Faculty of Nursing. Lind’s goal is to endow the award so that there will be a permanent tribute to Firth.

Donations will be gratefully accepted and can be sent to Nidia McIntosh, director of development and alumni relations in the Faculty of Nursing, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary T2N 1N4, or by calling 403-210-9366.