Life-long friends volunteer together at the Free Clinic

Judy Huett-Harris (left) and Jane Lee have been friends since they met in nursing school 45 years ago in Indiana. They've both settled into their retirement in Leavenworth by volunteering together at the Free Clinic every third Monday.

Every third Monday, Jane Lee and Judy Huett-Harris arrive at the Upper Valley MEND’s Free Clinic upstairs at Cascade Medical Center. They’re both nurses who have semi-retired and keep their nursing licenses by continuing to volunteer at the Clinic.

But that’s far from the only thing they have in common. They carpooled together to the Clinic because they’re neighbors. But they became neighbors on purpose, because Jane and Judy have known each other for 45 years.

A friendship spanning 45 years and multiple states

The two women met at nursing school in Indiana. Judy had been in the program for a year when Jane started the program, and they met through a mentorship program at the school.

One day during that first year, they discovered that they had even more in common than they thought.

“Jane was looking out her second-floor window, saw my now-husband and yelled, ‘What are you doing here?’” Judy said.

It turned out Jane knew Greg—Judy’s boyfriend, who later became her husband—because he was best friends with Jane’s older brother.

“And two separate worlds collided,” Jane added.

Since they first met, the two women and their husbands have stayed close. Jane followed Judy and Greg to Salem, OR, staying with them before she found her own place. When Jane married her husband Alvin, Judy agreed to play flute at their wedding.

Eventually, they lived near each other in the greater Seattle area, where Judy was Jane’s manager at Virginia Mason. Later, when Judy and Greg retired and bought a house on North Road outside of Leavenworth, they invited Jane and Alvin to come see where they lived. Jane and Alvin ended up buying the house next door.

It was Jane’s idea to volunteer at the Free Clinic; she asked Judy if she wanted to do it, too. Jane also volunteers at Das Thrift, another one of Upper Valley MEND’s programs, and thought volunteering at the Free Clinic could be a great way to continue to help using skills she and Judy already have.

“It’s a good service for the community,” said Jane. “We feel very blessed and want to give back. Plus there’s the fringe benefit of getting to know great people.”

“Nursing is part of my identity and I’m not really ready to give that up,” Judy adds.

Jane also enjoys the work because she gets to practice her Spanish and get to know more Spanish-speaking community members.

Both women say it’s more laid back than the paid nursing work they’ve done in the past.

“It’s more fun because there’s—” Jane began, “There’s less stress.” Judy finished.

“For old nurses it’s nice because there’s no computer stuff,” says Jane. “I get to write all my thoughts by hand.”

Both women expressed admirations for range of programs Upper Valley MEND offers in addition to the Free Clinic, including the food pantry, the thrift store and the various housing options we offer in the Upper Valley.

“It’s all-encompassing,” Judy said.

They also point out that many of the patients they see come because they can’t make it to medical appointments during the day, even if they do have insurance.

“It’s not unusual to see insured patients, too,” says Judy. “It’s not just the underinsured. Some people go because of the evening hours or because they need something looked at.”

They both remembered when one of the school nurses told parents that they could take their kids to the Free Clinic to get any of the vaccines they were missing before school started. They also pointed out that they get a fair amount of kids who need sports physicals.

“It just seems like they’re pretty grateful to be seen,” said Judy. “The community is very lucky to have MEND.”