Episode 5 of “These Are Your Neighbors” features Sister Kathleen Atkinson. Sister Kathleen was invited to be a guest because of her critical work in the community through Ministry on the Margins. She is known in the community for her compassion and empathy and spent time on TAYN reminding us that we must never get into the mindset of considering people “others”. She talks about the misconceptions of being homeless and what we can do to help our neighbors.
Sister Kathleen Atkinson is a Benedictine Sister from the Annunciation Monastery in Bismarck,ND. Nationally recognized as an energetic and creative leader in hunger and homelessnesseducation, she has developed service learning experiences for all age groups and led serviceteams to a variety of foreign and United States locations. Kathleen has been a teacher at theelementary, secondary, university level and has served as director of catechesis for the dioceseof Bismarck. In 2013 she founded Ministry on the Margins, which offers prison ministry, prisonre-entry support, a food pantry, a night time coffee house, support groups, and street outreach.Ministry on the Margins currently serves over 1200 people each week.
A lifetime resident of Bismarck, she is an Elementary Education graduate from University ofMary, Kathleen holds an MA in Theology from St John;s University and a Doctorate in Ministryfrom the University of St Thomas. She is the author of several articles on spirituality and missionas well as two books.
Kathleen currently serves as a member of the Burleigh County Housing Commission, MissouriValley Homeless Coalition, Burleigh-Morton Behavioral Health Coalition, and AID, Inc Board ofDirectors.
