Tara Arnold is a nurse and former Mrs. Oregon winner who attends Westside: A Jesus Church and has been involved in planning the last several Compassion Tigard clinics. She recently stepped back from her job as a nurse to stay home with her kids, which felt like something God was asking her to do. But when she got the opportunity to use her gifts and skills by helping coordinate the Compassion Tigard clinic, everything seemed to fit into place.
“I have enjoyed a really rich and full career as a hospital based Pediatric and mother/baby nurse. When I had my second child, I felt called to leave the hospital and focus on my family for a season. I didn’t want to give up on nursing all together and I thought planning the Tigard Compassion Clinic would be a great way to stay connected to the medical side of my heart.
I got involved because I saw that my church needed volunteers at a winter clinic. My community group, many of whom have medical backgrounds, decided to volunteer together. I was so impressed by the service I saw for the community and felt drawn in to continue to help.
I loved the openness the clinic directors had to my ideas and they were so welcoming to any professional nursing ideas I had. I loved the collaborative approach. I am able to plan clinics from home around my own schedule, and it has been an incredible way to meet people in the community and create something that makes such a difference to people.
Tara (third from left) serving with friends at the Tigard Compassion Clinic
Moving the Dial on Community Health Outcomes
I love that [Compassion Connect’s] mission allows medical professionals to use their giftings in a way that is truly serving the community. We get to serve together all from different places without any organization’s bias. We are serving purely from our hearts. I have always felt that my calling to be a nurse and opportunity to go to nursing school is a gift from the Lord. It’s amazing to use that gift and years of experience now to coordinate clinics.
I have always felt a strong calling to participate in community health education and wellness. In nursing school during many clinical community rotations, I saw the great need for services and health education in so many areas in Oregon. As a bedside hospital based nurse, I could only serve about 5-8 families in a day. I felt that I could affect greater change by volunteering my time in community health initiatives that would really move the dial on improved health outcomes.
“The focus of all Compassion clinics is the Church uniting to serve the community. God gets the glory in everything we do. There is no one person that is the focus or the star of the event. God uses every single person putting on the event and volunteering to the best of their giftings, and even beyond at times.”
I feel that Compassion clinics are a very tangible way to affect change in the community on so many levels. We provide not only medical services, but also a spiritual, social, and personal component of care that goes beyond people just being seen for a medical need. Holistic care like this is so good for people and families in our community.
From Mrs. Oregon, to Nurse, to Mom, to Compassion Clinic Leader
[Volunteering] has given me confidence in my ability to plan events, work with different churches, and reach out to medical professionals. I love that I can use my creativity to incorporate other businesses that can help to put on great clinics. I feel so proud that I have a hand in affecting positive changes in people’s lives, and that I am creating a space for others to volunteer their giftings.
Tara (left) has always felt a strong calling to participate in community health education and wellness.
It has matured a part of me and brought so many past experiences of community health outreach together. These clinics truly are a culmination of so many of my past experiences. God has prepared me for this time to help put together these Compassion Clinics.
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In 2013 I was Mrs. Oregon, and during that time I led a Statewide kids health initiative and promoted family health through physical exercise and nutrition. I was able to form many partnerships with companies and organizations to put on healthy kid events in many cities in Oregon.
Looking back I see how God was giving me the opportunity to make these connections and learn so many important lessons. I learned how to work with the community, my team, and partnering organizations. I learned the value of people working together for a common goal. And most importantly, I saw how we could collaboratively make a positive change in family health in Oregon.
“I feel that Compassion clinics are a very tangible way to affect change in the community on so many levels. We provide not only medical services, but also a spiritual, social, and personal component of care […] Holistic care like this is so good for people and families in our community.”
These important connections and lessons have all helped me in the planning of our clinics. I see so many opportunities for crossover and have been so lucky that many partnerships have continued in this new venture of planning clinics.
One Body, Many Parts
The focus of all Compassion clinics is the Church uniting to serve the community. God gets the glory in everything we do. There is no one person that is the focus or the star of the event. God uses every single person putting on the event and volunteering to the best of their giftings, and even beyond at times. It’s incredible to work under this banner knowing that everyone is equally important and serving in any way that they can.”
-Tara Arnold
