As the Beal Properties family joins the rest of the world in grappling with the COVID-19 crisis, we want to take a moment to recognize one of our tenants, who is among the heroes combating the pandemic from the front lines.
Tara, a Beal resident and Chicago-based cardiac nurse currently working at Northwestern Memorial, will be traveling to New York — the epicenter of the crisis — to assist the city’s doctors and nurses in a time of unprecedented need.
“New York is in crisis right now, she said. “They have the highest number of confirmed cases worldwide. They need us.”
Tara’s selfless decision is consistent with the mindset that drove her to pursue a career helping others: a responsibility toward other people. “We owe and need each other,’ she said, “especially when times are difficult.”
Tara’s housemate is from Wuhan, China and has family there. That experience has helped Tara understand the situation’s gravity from the onset, and it’s helped her understand the role community plays in not just fighting the pandemic, but also navigating a time of unprecedented social change.
“We are all citizens of the world,” she said. “That is community, people being open and sharing.”
She also stressed the importance of social distancing:
“This is a unique health crisis in that it is affecting even the healthy by having to isolate, and there is a lot of solidarity in that. I hope that people start viewing health as not just fixing something when it goes wrong but preventing it from happening. That’s what social distancing is about.
“[Social distancing] is VERY important. The preparation, testing, and treatments we have had and do have were and are mishandled and inadequate. Social distancing is the number one means we have of slowing the outbreak.”
As Tara heads to New York to lend her expertise in the heart of the coronavirus outbreak, she implores Chicagoans to turn to professionals and keep medical workers in their thoughts.
“Please follow trusted medical advice,” she said. “If you know someone working in the medical field, like your friend who is a nurse, you can check in with them and see how they are doing.”
For those who want to do more, Tara said the Red Cross is looking for volunteers to do anything, from delivering supplies to at-home remote volunteering. There is also a nationwide blood shortage due to less people being able to go out and donate. If you are interested in donating, please visit https://www.redcross.org/give-blood.html.
From everyone at Beal Properties, thank you Tara for your incredible selflessness and commitment to others during this trying moment.
