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Honoring frontline workers: Our partnership with the Arizona Nurses Association

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2020 was an especially difficult year for our frontline workers. Faced with a global pandemic, nurses were confronted with longer hours and fewer resources. Sadly, many nurses and healthcare providers have made the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives while saving others. To honor these fallen heroes, we’ve recently shared that we’re partnering with the Arizona Nurses Association to create a memorial to honor Arizona’s healthcare workers, including nurses, who lost their lives over the past year. 

The Arizona Nurses Association (AzNA) is the voice of nursing in Arizona and is at the forefront of recognizing healthcare heroes and the big impact they make. AzNA represents 95,000 nurses in the state and works to support them through legislation and public policy. They work closely with the Arizona State Board of Nursing, the Arizona Hospital Association, and other nursing organizations in Arizona to elevate the profession and identify the value that nursing brings to the community. Due to support from organizations like AzNA, Arizona has been ranked amongst the best states in the country for nurses

Over the upcoming weeks, AzNA will be requesting and confirming names to be inscribed on the Heroes Memorial. Those eligible include frontline workers in the healthcare system in the state of Arizona who have passed away from COVID-19 or as a result of their frontline work during the pandemic. 

Dr. Dawna Cato, CEO of AzNA comments: “AzNA is honored to recognize the nurses and healthcare providers who have shown exceptional dedication to their patients during such vulnerable moments, especially during the pandemic. They are mentally and emotionally critical to families and should be acknowledged in the highest regard. We’re proud to be working with community-minded organizations like Better Place Forests to build this memorial in such a beautiful, inspiring destination like their forest.”

Our partnership with the Arizona Nurses Association

It’s important for us to build relationships with local communities and our neighbors. Working together, we can create a place for people to remember their loved ones, surrounded by beauty and nature. We are honored to work with the Arizona Nurses Association to create a memorial for fallen nurses and healthcare workers. 

As we care about creating meaningful legacies for our families, AzNA cares for their nurses. It’s a privilege to work with AzNA to create a memorial for those whose sacrifices have paved the way for the rest of us. 

Our plans are to create a peaceful memorial in our Flagstaff forest where loved ones can reflect amongst nature. This memorial is expected to complete construction over the next year.

Sandy Gibson, Co-founder and CEO of Better Place Forests comments: “During the darkest and most dangerous moments of the pandemic, nurses and frontline healthcare providers throughout the United States risked their lives to help save others. I am honored that we can help the Arizona Nurses Association recognize their local frontline heroes with a memorial in their honor.

For the heroes from Arizona who gave their lives in the line of duty, their names will be inscribed forever in the forest as a memorial to their courage and their sacrifice. I hope their story will give strength to future generations of Arizonans, including nurses and healthcare providers who so often, without complaint or desire for recognition, endure risks to their personal health and carry our lives in their hands.”

Better Place Forests Flagstaff is a forest oasis in the desert highlands that protects 160 acres of open space in the area. It offers a protected landscape where families can choose a private memorial tree that contributes to conserving that forestland for generations to come. As part of our commitment to protecting iconic forests and open spaces, we’ll ensure that the land is well-maintained, will thrive ecologically, and is protected from development.

We’re currently preparing for the forest to open for in-person tours on June 19th. We look forward to seeing you there! 

If you’d like to see the Flagstaff forest for yourself, schedule a free online forest tour to see the beauty of Northern Arizona. 

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