Amarillo Globe-News Woman of the Year: Cari Roach Good's giving heart helps community get through COVID

The Amarillo Globe-News proudly announces Cari Roach Good as the 2022 Woman of the Year. The 2022 Man and Woman of the Year are being presented by FirstBank Southwest.

For more than 30 years, Roach Good has helped to better the Amarillo area and surrounding communities through helping the homeless in need. For most of her life, Roach Good's intentions often began with a meal for an individual seeking help. That good intention grew into more needs being met, and with support of other community members and the Guyon Saunders Resource Center (GSRC), that meal offered and accepted was a life changed for the better.

"Cari is a very close friend of mine, and she has always been the first to offer 'May I help with that?', 'Can I help with this?', and she does that to everyone. She treats everyone the same; she does not see herself as being better than anyone, ever. She feels that everyone deserves the right to be treated equally, and has spent her whole life ensuring that everyone does, especially the homeless. They are God's creatures too," said Liz Bentley, GSRC board member and longtime friend.

As stated by her peers, friends, mentors, child and collogues, Roach Good has always been drawn to helping and feeding others. As a young adult, Roach Good knew she wanted to help but did not know how to begin. She followed her faith, and utilizing the resources she had, created as many sandwiches as she could. Afterward, she walked to the park, waited and prayed that God would help lead her to those in need.

"She once told me how she got started. She said she felt she needed to take food to Ellwood Park, and she packed up about five or six sack lunches and went to the park," said Kyla Wiggains, Roach Good's daughter and teacher for Canyon ISD. "She sat down and told the Lord, ' You're going to have to bring them to me because I don't know what else to do, but I'm here.' She said after some time, a man came up to her and asked for 37 cents; at the time, the only thing she had were the sack lunches and her car keys. She told the man she didn't have the change but asked what he needed the money for. The man said, 'If I had 37 cents, I'd have just enough to go to the convenience store to get me something to eat.' Instead, she offered him the sack lunch, and he accepted it. To this day, that is how she says it all began and how my mother found her life passion."

As time went on and others helped joined her cause, those six sandwiches grew into more elaborate meals, snacks, clothing items, hand warmers, resources and much more given to as many individuals as possible. Roach Good continued to follow her faith and fed those without a home every weekend after church throughout her various roles as marketing director for Happy State Bank, as a board member with Faith City Mission for 17 years, her involvement with the Downtown Women's Center, and as a board member for the Guyon Saunders Resource Center (GSRC).

Wiggains spoke about her mother's generosity being instilled in her through childhood while growing up, feeding those in need. In fact, the family held a weekly tradition of feeding those living on the streets so often and consistently that Roach Good's daughter grew up believing it was a common practice in the average life.

"My whole life, we would spend every Saturday evening making sack lunches; then every Sunday after church, we would pick up all the lunches from four or five churches and go to multiple places and deliver them. ... As I was growing up, I thought this is a common thing. It's what everyone does, and what all people do. As I got older, I realized that not as many people are as generous with their time, and has such a big heart as my mom does. She is a perfect example of generosity. She is so consistent with her actions, and she is how I wanted to be in life," Wiggains said.

According to Roach Good's daughter and those around her, including mentor and friend, former Mayor Debra McCartt, the Woman of the Year lived her life inspired by a specific Bible verse, Matthew 25:40, which states: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in ... Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in? ... The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ "

McCartt believes in order for a community to thrive, it is important for all citizens to utilize their gifts and talents to support that community. McCartt said Roach Good is the perfect example of an individual's utilizing their gifts to the fullest, allowing the Amarillo community and its citizens to thrive.

The former mayor spoke of her longtime friendship and mentorship with Roach Good and her efforts to help the community when it needed it most, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

"Throughout COVID, when there was very little opportunity for the homeless to find the food they needed, Cari made sure that 150-plus individuals living on the streets had a hot lunch five days a week. Thanks to many local restaurants, individuals, families and businesses, the food has continued to come to Guyon Saunders. As Cari has made awareness of the need to feed the hungry, this has brought an outlet for many who wanted to be of service but just didn't know where to begin. I have no doubt that Cari Good has made a tremendous impact on the community by continuing to serve and educate others. Thank you Cari for your selfless years of dedication to the least of these," McCartt said.

Roach Good was brought on as a member of the GSRC board when they first began as a 501(c) 3 nonprofit in 2018. She has been affiliated with the board ever since, as well as serving as the interim executive director while the nonprofit became more stabilized.

"Obviously Cari has a huge heart for caring for our homeless community. I don’t believe anyone in this community has worked harder to ensure care for homeless and survival of the GSRC. Cari has done much to improve the services and expand services for permanent housing for its clients. Cari has overseen all the fundraising for the center, from golf tournaments, to working the booth at Sod Poodle Games, to overseeing grants to foundations. She has literally opened the doors in the morning and closed them at night," said Joe Street, GSRC board member and owner of Street Auto Group.

The Guyon Saunders Resource Center is a daytime shelter that serves those in the Amarillo community struggling with homelessness. The facility offers amenities such as showers, laundry services, and a resting area throughout the day. The center also connects those facing home insecurity with groups to accommodate for specific services needed, such as medical and mental assistance, case management services and more.

"Cari has been a major part in the direction that the Guyon Saunders Resource Center is going, from her starting out on her own just herself and her family doing all they can to feed those in need, to rallying the community and helping to raise funds as we prepare to build up this new facility," said Bryan Gillespie, GSRC program director.

"Cari is just overall an honorable person, and I am really glad to have known her. She has been one of the leaders for the Guyon Saunders Resource Center to help it grow into what it is now today and become what it is becoming," Gillespie added.

The new resource center is a collaboration between the City of Amarillo, Hillside Christian Church and the GSRC to build Transformation Park. According to Bentley, this new facility has been long awaited. Originally, it was planned for ground breaking on the center to occur in 2021, but it was put on hold due to additional partnerships stepping in and allowing for more development to the upcoming facility. Much of these partnerships and additional gaining of funds was headed by Roach Good, leading to the new groundbreaking timeline set to occur early 2023.

"Cari is just so good and has such a giving heart," Bentley said. "I admire her so much for so many reasons. One of them is her ethic, and another is for her heart for others. Above all, I admire her for her love for Christ. She truly disserves this recognition. There have been so many lives touched by her, too many to ever count. ... Cari I thank you for teaching me about the homeless population and helping me see them in a new light. You are an inspiration to so many."

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Cari Roach Good named Amarillo Globe-News 2022 Woman of the Year