Volunteer Profile: Diane Bedecarre

In November, when Diane Bedecarre had just cut back her nursing hours to part time, the self-described “workaholic” wasted no time in filling her schedule. One of the first things she did was complete a COTS volunteer application.

But if you think Diane was speedy, you haven’t met COTS Community Engagement Specialist Diana Morales!

Diane clicked “submit” on her application and went out of a walk. She’d gotten half a block and her phone rang. “It was Diana,” Diane says. “She wanted to know when I could start.”

Diane eventually ended up on our Tuesday team and loved it immediately. She loved the camaraderie and the jokes in the kitchen and on the serving line. She loved the great meals and the commitment to using our community’s food resources wisely and well. She loved the “Dewey Decimal System” that volunteer Rick Royball had created in the pantry. She loved meeting our guests.

But what clinched it for her was a coffee break conversation she had with Marge Popp, the elder stateswoman of all our volunteers. It was Diane’s second day, and “Marge asked me what I thought we could be doing better.”

What Marge didn’t know yet about Diane is that systems are a passion for her. After a long career as a Medical Surgical Nurse at Marin General Hospital (a profession that, in addition to medical skills, requires talents for organization, multi-tasking and people management), Diane went back to school to earn her Master’s degree in Nursing Education and Informatics. As a result, she became involved with a groundbreaking electronic medical record project for the VA. Post grad school, medical informatics became her profession. Diane specialized in training end users and in communicating the needs of nurses and doctors to developers. “A system isn’t any good if people won’t use it,” she says. “It has to meet our needs.”

“So, it was a kick to have this old gal ask me what we could do better. Here she is, doing quality management improvement. I just loved it,” Diane says. “I thought, ‘I am going to fit in here.’”

Diane’s fit for nursing became clear to her when, in 1978, shortly after graduating from SSU, she volunteered to be her sister’s Lamaze coach. She thrilled to the birth process but also to the way the doctors and nurses worked so efficiently and kindly with each other and their patients. “It was a holy card moment, an epiphany for me,” she says. “I knew, ‘This is what I want to do.’” Her niece was born in December and she enrolled in nursing prerequisites in January.

She and her artist/musician husband Henry raised their two children in Petaluma, so she was aware of COTS’ founding and operations. “I followed it in the news,” she says, and she and Henry have been steadfast financial supporters. “But, until now, I haven’t had the time to volunteer.”

When it comes to volunteering, Diane takes inspiration from her parents. They were both teachers, active in social justice campaigns and in providing support and guidance for other teachers. Her Mom has passed, but her Dad, at 98, is still doing what he can to make a difference. Diane loves the fact that he’s still writing checks for the causes he believes in, still glued to MSNBC and—most of all—that he pays his caregiver to make her incredible enchiladas every week for the residents of a nearby homeless shelter.

She shares caregiving opportunities for her Dad, so she has to absent herself from volunteer work at COTS for now. “I miss it. I can’t wait to get back,” she says.

Thank you, Diane!