For Tam Driscoll, giving back has always been part of life. An admitted extrovert, she loves connecting with people. Tam and her husband, Geoff, have lived in Beaumont-Wilshire for 30 years, building strong connections with their neighbors and raising their now-college-aged daughter, Devan.
You might see Tam walking to local favorites like The Arrangement and Beaumont Market or tending dahlias in the raised beds she shares with a neighbor whose yard gets more sun. “I love being part of a neighborhood where people really get to know each other,” she says.
That same spirit of connection fuels her advocacy work. In the late 1990s, Tam taught science and agriculture through the Peace Corps in West Africa. She later coached youth sports when Devan was young, and, for the past 25 years, she’s raised more than $1.5 million for Blood Cancer United (formerly the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society). The cause is especially important to her after losing family members to blood cancer.
Two years ago, Tam survived a stroke, an experience that led to a new chapter in her advocacy. Now a volunteer with the American Heart Association, she shares her story and teaches others to recognize the warning signs. “Don’t delay,” she says, because “time is brain,” referencing the phrase coined in the 1990s to emphasize that every minute of delay in treating a stroke results in irreversible brain damage.
Today Tam works in environmental communications for the City of Gresham. This job helped strengthen her Associated Press writing style, skills she recycles into writing compelling letters for her advocacy work. She’s near retirement and looks forward to focusing even more of her time on the causes she believes in.
Jamie Gardner is a real estate broker with Windermere, putting her UO journalism degree to use here. She grew up in Portland and has lived in Beaumont-Wilshire since 2020 with her husband and two dogs. Jamie loves to travel, tackle house projects, and enjoy the local food scene.