ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — It’s a profession known for helping people but whose employees don’t get that much recognition. The husband of this “Remarkable Woman” finalist wrote a heartfelt nomination letter to make sure his wife knows his admiration and hoped the rest of the Capital Region would learn about her too.

The Rileys are a typical young family, with one special difference … their nightly “Good Deed of the Day” conversation. “Yesterday when you were going to the hospital I helped Grandma with stuff,” said one of their three boys, as his brother chimed in, “Me too!”

Dad and all three boys share how they’ve helped someone, inspired by their mom Katherine, a social worker at Albany Medical Center, “Probably the best thing that I got to do today was pay for somebody’s medication because the pharmacy was closed.”

But it’s not just patients she helps wrote her husband Justin. “She has helped families, co-workers, friends all with problems they face in their lives. Just last week she helped a woman file her taxes that didn’t know how and could not afford them. Not for payment or even a thank you. She did it because that is just the type of woman my wife is.”

Katherine gives credit right back to her husband for being her biggest supporter, and also to her mom, who raised her on her own while facing blindness, “I saw her deal with injustices, I saw her navigating the system when I was growing up and I always kind of knew that I wanted to get into a career where I could help others.”

It wasn’t quick or easy to get her degrees, especially with a growing family, but it’s paid off in moments knowing she made a difference. Like getting one patient home to Canada while the borders were closed during COVID, or recently a young person transferred to hospice back home in Maine.

“Just making sure he got home before the holidays was my goal and I was able to deliver so it made me feel really good.”

Katherine is transitioning to an outpatient role, but her goal remains the same, “I really care about this community that we live in I’ve lived here my entire life I grew up here so I continue to keep doing the work that I’m doing so that way I can make this place a better place.”