DIXON, CA (MPG) - Hortencia Guerrero’s heart could have grown cold after her son died but her tax clients--and her family--kept it gold.

“I got more flowers that year than I ever received over my lifetime,” she said. “My clients were my therapy. It was a very emotional year.” She is talking about a time that is a decade ago when a tragedy could have taken her energy away but only emboldened a spirit to help more.

The sharply-dressed woman is the owner of Guerrero Taxes, a 31-year-old company geared toward Dixon’s Hispanic population. She is also an Immigration Consultant, a Notary, offers translation services, and now does home loans. Her energy, she says, stems from parents who taught her--and her eight siblings--to rise early and do their best.

“I feel that helping others that are not so fortunate or just are having a hard time or not knowing how to read a legal form in English and feeling helpless is what motivates me to help,” she said. Her clients and friends pass the word that there is someone to help. “We help out over three thousand clients,” she said.

Getting Started

Hortencia was working at Raley’s in Vacaville doing their accounting and after getting charged a large sum for her family’s tax preparation years ago, she asked herself, “How hard could this be?” and promptly went back to Sacramento State to get a license to prepare taxes. She worked helping friends and family around her schedule at Raley’s but this self-described “people person”, soon grew out of her home office.

Encouraged by her husband, Victor, she found an alliance with friend Realtor Don Miller (since passed) and shared the office space in the older building on the corner of B and First Streets.

“But, then I had rent. I was really scared and thought, oh no, what have I done? But, Victor was always encouraging,” she said. It also helped that her clients were tremendously grateful, paying her any way they could including boxes of oranges, vegetables, and strawberries, she explained with a laugh.

When Miller was aging, he offered Hortencia the whole building. There was rent and utilities but her husband said, “I know you can do it.” They spent the next several years fixing the place up but then Miller died and the children who inherited it would not sell the building to her and gave the building to the library instead even though the Guerreros offered a fair price to purchase it.

“I believe in Karma and learned never to get mad over ‘why?’” she said even though she was terribly disappointed. That kind of positive attitude saw her through the great recession that began in 2008 and that building to this day, never got fully renovated.

Needing to move, the couple found a commercial space foreclosure near the Dixon Police Station. They racked up credit cards and emptied their savings because they did not qualify for a commercial loan, but they bought it.

“This is Don’s desk,” Hortencia says as she lovingly spreads her hand across the smooth wood in the office at 155 West Mayes Street.

“I was born and raised here in Dixon. My Dad and Mom were immigrants working in the fields so I’m a Migrant Camp Child,” she said so, she “knows that life and is appreciative of how hard her parents worked to give them what they needed to survive. Witnessing the racism as a young child made me stronger and eager to make a difference. I try to do just enough so they can take it on their own. It is ‘free community work’ although I do get paid. I’m rewarded in the most unique ways.”

A Son’s Death

The couple dove into paying off their debt while making improvements to the building when a tragedy struck their family in December of 2008. Their 15-year-old son, Sam, suddenly died from exposure to E. coli, a large and diverse group of bacteria. Many strains are harmless, others can make people ill, severely ill or can be life-threatening, health officials said.

The whole family was devastated and Hortencia didn’t want to come back into her office. Victor, who worked 40 years at Campbell Soup on Pedrick Road, retired. The family tried to purchase a run-down house down the street and an empty lot to establish a memorial garden close to their office but ultimately the plans were not approved.

“My clients were my salvation,” Hortencia said. “This place looked like a florist in here,” she said. Hortencia has a large picture of Sam on the wall across from her desk where all she has to do is look up and he is there--a healthy-looking and handsome young man.

More Space

Time went on and ultimately another opportunity presented itself. The owner of the other unit offered to sell. That was four years ago. They now own the whole complex after “scrimping and saving and having absolutely no money for three years again,” she said.

When the pandemic struck last year, lots of friends trying to keep busy offered their time to help improve the building including new concrete in back for parking, a patio area, and concrete even in the front. They also added beautiful new wrought iron fencing. There is a gold letter “S” welded in the entry gate to memorialize Sam. They just finished turning one unit into a spacious meeting room that is available for classes, meetings, workshops, or even a church group.

“I don’t know how long we can do this but we will as long as we can and hand it down to the children so we can take off on cruises,” she said with a smile.