This article was submitted by the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico. Louise Trask died in July 2021.
Finding a way to honor the legacy of Louise Trask wasn’t hard. The seed of inspiration was planted when Louise’s eldest daughter, Melissa Henry, was just 5 years old. Louise took her two young daughters to church one day and when the pastor asked for a prayer request, Melissa raised her tiny hand and said “I would like to ask you to pray that my Dad would stop hitting my Mommy.”
Fortunately, Melissa’s prayers were answered. The church community rallied around Louise with support, offering her a moving truck to pack up her belongings and gas money. She ended up in Las Cruces and became a well-known face in the community. After several years working in sales for the manufactured housing industry, Louise was hired as a mortgage loan officer at a local credit union. While there, she made it her mission to help others actualize their dreams of purchasing their homes forever. “She was like a momma figure to everyone,” Melissa said. “She helped people repair their credit and would offer advice like ‘you don’t have to eat a restaurant burrito everyday for lunch’ to get people to start thinking about saving for their new home.”
Even though high demands and commitments at home kept Louise from graduating from high school, education always remained important to her. She volunteered at local schools, sharing her time and expertise to help provide financial literacy information to high school youth. Louise also used her past experiences to speak to middle school home economics classes about domestic violence including types of abuse and signs to watch out for.
Louise used the church’s investment to create a new life, one filled with hope, love, and service to her community. Now that her daughter Melissa and her husband, Dr. Kevin E. Henry, are church founders and pastors in Pantego, Texas, they, together with their church family at Word of Truth International Ministries, have chosen to bring Louise’s story full circle by creating The Louise Trask Memorial Foundation fund. The fund, housed at the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico, was established to help other women in southern New Mexico who were in domestic violence situations find their new beginnings. Earnings from the fund will provide assistance for new home down payments, rent and deposits for apartments, and education related expenses such as tuition or GED application fees.
When we asked Melissa why establishing this fund was important, she said “We can take what was done for my mom, sister, and I to help other mothers and their children and give them a second chance, also. That is my Mom’s legacy—she wanted good for everyone and had a caring heart for others.”
Louise’s family also knew found creative ways for those who Louise to help support the endowment established in her memory. Special memorial T-shirts will be sold with proceeds being donated to the Louise Trask Memorial Foundation fund. After Louise’s passing, Melissa rediscovered a children’s book she authored in seventh grade that her mother helped her create. The book, “Where’s Sara?” will be published and dedicated to Louise with proceeds from the sale also supporting the endowment.
To learn more about The Louise Trask Memorial Foundation Fund at the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico, visit https://bit.ly/3bS39Aq.
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