Kay Guerin’s list of volunteer experience in the New Braunfels community is extensive.
She is involved with the SOS Food Bank, Texas Ramp Project, Hope Hospice, works on various initiatives through her church, St. John’s Episcopal, and goes on frequent mission trips to Mexico, during which she brings clothes, school supplies and other items to families in need.
“I’ve always wanted to make people a little happier, give them a little brightness in their life,” Guerin said.
For most of her adult life, Guerin worked for the Wichita County District Attorney’s Office in Wichita Falls, where she started the second victim assistance program in the state of Texas. “You just hear so many people in sad situations,” Guerin said. “How could you not want to help?”
Guerin later began working in adult protective services and transferred to New Braunfels when her grandson was born. She became involved with Texas Ramp Project, a volunteer-run organization that builds free wheelchair ramps at homes that need them across the state. At one point, Guerin oversaw the project’s operation in Caldwell, Hays, Comal and Guadalupe counties.
At 79, Guerin is still the team leader for Comal and Guadalupe counties, where she takes referrals and assigns them to different teams, manages warehouses and does administrative paperwork. She says her favorite thing to do, however, is to get out and build the ramps, and she plans to keep doing so until she can’t any longer.
“At the end [of building], we ask the clients to come out and take a picture, and this lady comes out in her wheelchair and says, ‘This is the first time in over two years that I’ve been outside that I have not been in a stretcher,’” Guerin said. “I just never thought of what it would feel like to be locked inside your house … it’s just little things like [building ramps] that make a big difference in people’s lives.”
Giving to others is a value that Guerin says has been taught to her from the time she was a child. She recalls her parents being the type of people to help anyone with anything, including letting strangers in need move into their house.
“We weren’t wealthy by any means, I mean we never had to worry about food on the table or anything like that, but … I guess that’s where it came from,” Guerin said. “I just like doing things, and I like helping people. It’s just something that’s ingrained in me.”
Kaitlynn Hutchins | The Herald-Zeitung
Dec 23, 2024 Updated Dec 26, 2024