"Live each day looking for opportunities, making positive choices about what that day can become." Even in this world where a source of positive light can be scarce at times, with the right perspective, ordinary people can accomplish the most extraordinary things. 

Terri McCaffrey, a nurse at the St. Cloud Hospital, was given national recognition in early July, as she was named the 2010 Spirit of Women's Healthcare Hero. Terri's passion for "giving back" makes her more than qualified as an honorable recipient. Terri has been a St. Cloud Hospital employee for 25 years, and as a Clinical Nurse Specialist, she keeps herself busy with a number of programs. She works as the Coordinator for the Cleft and Craniofacial Clinic, Perinatal and Pediatric Bereavement Program and the Pediatric and Perinatal Palliative Care Program. Through her professional career, Terri felt called to give back, and to live a life of service.

Terri's experiences within her professional career have led her to give back in many ways. In 1988, she worked as a staff nurse in the Family Birthing Center and began to bring relief in the form of a bereavement program, which continues to support hundreds of families annually. More than ten years later, Terri, along with St. Cloud physician, Paul Shultz, initiated the Cleft and Craniofacial Clinic, where she worked as Clinical Nurse Specialist and Coordinator, tackling a large amount of work and responsibility with strengths in Clinical Organizational Skills.

Terri's belief in "hands-on" medical service, shine through in both her professional career and her life as a volunteer. The Cleft and Craniofacial Clinic to provide close-to-home quality services to the people of Central Minnesota. This attitude towards medical services has made Terri a strong part of HELPS' medical relief efforts in Guatemala. In rural areas, both here in central MN or in the highlands of Guatemala, it can be difficult for people to receive the specialty care that they need. Whether it is due to lifestyles, or because of financial burdens, people in rural areas do not always have the same opportunities close to home.

Providing Services to people closer to home, allows for a different doctor to patient relationship, which is one of the most powerfully moving aspects of the HELPS trips, several of which Terri has been a part of. "Grieving people are my passion," says Terri, as she talks about the importance of providing service and support in a dignified manner. This attitude is what makes Terri a model volunteer, and an example of charity on a different level. Terri is not only giving her time, but also providing for the people she helps with a source of dignity and faith, which is ever important when providing relief to a grieving people.

With the right perspective, a new depth of service can be reached, both for the giver and the receiver; an experience of understanding, of being on the same level, from one human being to another. Terri is a model of this attitude, which yields amazing accomplishments in the world of voluntary service.   

                   -The life you change, may be your own.