{"id":3310,"date":"2022-06-09T04:01:50","date_gmt":"2022-06-09T04:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ekdesigns.us\/arizona\/?p=3310"},"modified":"2022-06-09T04:01:50","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T04:01:50","slug":"carol-long-one-of-moms-first-volunteer-nurses-reflects-on-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.amissionofmercy.org\/arizona\/carol-long-one-of-moms-first-volunteer-nurses-reflects-on-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Carol Long: One of MOM\u2019s first volunteer nurses reflects on service"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left\">As Mission of Mercy Arizona gears up for our 25<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary celebration this fall, we have captured some special memories from our earliest volunteers. We caught up with Carol Long, now 88, who was among the first volunteer nurses to work with Mission of Mercy back in 1997 when the first clinic opened in Phoenix.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ekdesigns.us\/arizona\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/06\/image0-scaled-e1654747259604.jpeg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3311 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/ekdesigns.us\/arizona\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/06\/image0-scaled-e1654747259604-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left\">Carol was part of a prayer group based out of Saint Maria Goretti Catholic Church that was instrumental in laying the early foundational work that led to the launch of Mission of Mercy Arizona.\u00a0 Carol fondly remembers working with nurses Elena Konerko, Helen Davis, Carol Meola and others to establish a network of volunteer medical professionals that would treat MOM patients.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left\">Their job was to triage patients one on one at the clinic, which was located at Shepherd of the Valley Church in Phoenix.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left\">\u201cIt was more than taking their vitals, it was hearing their story,\u201d Carol says. \u201cMOM provides a space where you listen with intention.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left\">Of course, that special care links back to MOM\u2019s mission of Healing through Love.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ekdesigns.us\/arizona\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/06\/Carol-Long-old-image.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3312 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/ekdesigns.us\/arizona\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/06\/Carol-Long-old-image-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left\"><b>A passion for nursing<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left\"><b>\u00a0<\/b>Carol earned her nursing degree in Iowa back in 1957, trained as a nurse in Chicago and ultimately worked in surgery prior to getting married and starting a family.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left\">After raising her children, she was excited by the prospect of returning to her nursing roots through volunteer work with MOM.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left\">\u201cIt\u2019s a real gift from God to be able to be there for people,\u201d Carol recalls. \u201cWe saw God\u2019s light in each patient who came through our doors. Our work was about more than restoring health.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left\">Like most MOM volunteers, Carol cites her relationships with patients as her favorite part of volunteering with the organization.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left\">\u201cI like to say that God is like Baskin Robbins \u2013 he made us in 31 flavors and we\u2019re all wonderful,\u201d she says, chuckling. \u201cWe all have a gift \u2013 some are big and some are small, but all are important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left\">As part of Carol\u2019s work with MOM, she started the Pharmacy Team to sort and bottle medications, and established annual volunteer retreats. She was also a member of the auxiliary, which was a group that supported MOM with prayer, volunteer recruitment and fundraising.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left\">Over the course of 25 years, Carol volunteered countless hours at Mission of Mercy\u2019s clinics, lending her nursing skills and her heart to patients from all walks of life. \u201cIt has been such a gift \u2013 not only for the patients \u2013 but for all of us who have been blessed to serve,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left\">Carol points to Proverbs 22:2 as scripture that has guided her life over the years, particularly while volunteering for MOM:\u00a0<i>The rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the maker of them all.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Mission of Mercy Arizona gears up for our 25th\u00a0anniversary celebration this fall, we have captured some special memories from our earliest volunteers. We caught up with Carol Long, now 88, who was among the first volunteer nurses to work [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,52],"tags":[112,113,114,115,116,117,118,119,39],"class_list":["post-3310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-our-services","tag-25-years","tag-anniversary","tag-carol-long","tag-carol-meola","tag-elena-konerko","tag-helen-davis","tag-nurse","tag-saint-maria-goretti-catholic-church","tag-volunteer"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Carol Long: One of MOM\u2019s first volunteer nurses reflects on service<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amissionofmercy.org\/arizona\/carol-long-one-of-moms-first-volunteer-nurses-reflects-on-service\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Carol Long: One of MOM\u2019s first volunteer nurses reflects on service\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As Mission of Mercy Arizona gears up for our 25th\u00a0anniversary celebration this fall, we have captured some special memories from our earliest volunteers. 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