FOLEY, Ala. — Mary Ann Bousquet came to Gulf Shores because of Space Camp.

“We were originally in Wisconsin,” said Bousquet. “I had a child in Space Camp, and everyone there talked of Gulf Shores.”

That led Bousquet and her husband, Ron, to come down on vacation. They purchased a condo which has become a resource for friends and family members coming to the area.

The couple retired down here. But, they wanted to settle down in a home of their own.

“We built the house in Foley for safety reasons, said Bousquet. But, Bousquet had made friends in Gulf Shores and did not want to lose them.

“I was a member of the Gulf Shores Women’s Club,” she said. “It did not take long to get involved with the Christian Service Center.” The center, Bousquet says, has something for everyone to do.

“It doesn’t matter what your past job was,” she added.

Bousquet, a former teacher, became a caseworker. She goes to CSC twice a month and attempts to match clients with services. She also runs the Center’s “Christmas Cheer” program and the spaghetti dinner fundraiser in February.

“All agree that no matter how hard we work, we’ve got the easy job. It’s always harder to receive than to give.”

As a caseworker, Bousquet tries to “evaluate and give support they need to get over some hump in life.”

Bousquet learned the caseworker’s role by shadowing another caseworker. There was also a fat manual to read, and Bousquet, like other CSC volunteers, “shadowed everything” to learn how how the organization operates.

“You leave thinking of the blessings you have,” said Bousquet. “You say, but for the grace of God, I’d be at that end of the desk.”

There are many reasons why somebody finds themselves at CSC, but Bousquet says “the women raising children alone while they have a medical condition” especially pulls at her heart.

And last year’s oil spill caused the caseload to tick up.

“There were people there that never thought — would have put money on it — that they would never be in that situation,” she said. But, with other friends and family members being in the same boat, effected families quickly ran out of resources.

“They didn’t know how (to get help) or where to turn.”

Right now, Bousquet says, the need is for “jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. And then affordable housing.”

And while it’s hard to hear about all that need, there’s a lot of hope in seeing how the community responds, Bousquet says.

“We would not be able to do this without the whole community,” she said. “People are so welcoming, and they are all volunteers at the CSC. We have so many volunteers who are willing to give, give, give.”

Bousquet has gotten several of her neighbors “hooked in” to help. One neighbor made angels for the CSC giving tree and became a cook for the spaghetti fundraiser. Other neighbors have pitched in for projects.

“Once they come in, they are hooked,” laughed Bousquet. “You never run out of work.”