Volunteer Spotlight: Jeanne St Amour

Trinity Free Clinic is fortunate to have so many volunteers who have made the clinic their volunteering “home” for many years.  They know our processes inside and out, and their experience and dedication is crucial to ensuring the delivery of consistent, outstanding care to our patients. Jeanne St Amour is one of those veteran volunteers who has seen it all.

When asked about the contributions Jeanne has made volunteering with Trinity Free Clinic over the past seven years, Director of Clinic Operations, Lisa Curry, laughed and simply said, “Jeanne needs to be cloned!”

Jeanne started volunteering at Trinity Free Clinic in November 2014, first as a registered nurse, and later as a medical manager.  Jeanne is also particularly talented at training new volunteers, and many of our volunteer nurses started their experience at Trinity Free Clinic by shadowing Jeanne.  When asked which role she prefers, Jeanne had a tough time choosing between them.

“I really like teaching people and precepting,” Jeanne said, but continued on to explain that when she volunteers as an RN, she feels like she gets back to her roots. 

Jeanne continued, “It’s so different coming here than in the real world.  Everyone wants to be here and help people.  I learn so much from the people about the real world.  My husband always says I’m glowing when I come back!

“Trinity fills a big hole in the community.” Jeanne says that when she’s volunteering at the clinic, she can “feel God working in a good way.”

Jeanne recalled a walk-in patient that spoke only Mandarin Chinese, and the volunteers were struggling to communicate with her.  On that day, God’s timing was perfect, as ever!  A new pharmacy student had recently started his rotation at Trinity Free Clinic . . . and he was fluent in Mandarin Chinese.  These God “winks” are part of what keeps volunteers like Jeanne coming back to generously give their time to Trinity Free Clinic patients.

Jeanne retired from being an RN just prior to the COVID-19 quarantine in March of 2020, so being retired doesn’t quite feel real to her yet.  Even before the quarantine, she was working a lot through Zoom for her job at Travelers.  It was an easy transition for her to get involved when Trinity Free Clinic expanded its acute medical services through telemedicine.

When she’s not volunteering at Trinity Free Clinic, Jeanne enjoys reading and cycling.  Her love of cycling is a new passion, and she frequently rides twenty to thirty miles a day!  Just since January, she has logged over 1,000 miles on her bike.  That doesn’t include the hundreds of miles she has pedaled while training inside.

Jeanne and her husband also enjoy traveling.  They have four children and eight grandchildren living throughout the Midwest and East Coast, though the pandemic has limited their ability to visit them as much as they would like.  Incredibly, Jeanne has also travelled to Haiti four times on mission trips!

We are grateful that no matter how far Jeanne rides, she always makes it home safe and continues to make time to care for our patients at Trinity Free Clinic.  Volunteers like Jeanne are vital to accomplishing our mission, and we truly couldn’t do it without you.  Thank you!