ROSE Advocates chief retiring after 25 years at helm
It was 1997, and Dolores Larsen was enjoying her career as an ESL teacher at Weiser High School. One day, she was hit with something a bit unexpected – she never saw it coming and couldn’t have known where it would lead.
Larsen, who had worked for the Weiser School District for 14 years, was taken off guard when then ROSE Advocates Executive Director Debi Mann approached her and asked if she would like to run the organization.
“I was hired by Mr. Tom Falash and loved my job; I was going to school to get my degree,” explained Larsen who had her future in education mapped out, or so she thought.
She was taking classes at Treasure Valley Community College, with plans to eventually transfer to Boise State University where she would obtain her education degree.
Debi came into my office and told me her husband had taken another job out of state and that they were moving, and I needed to take this job,” Larsen said. “She explained what ROSE Advocates did and I said, ‘No, I can’t do that work.’”
ROSE Advocates
In 1988, somewhere in Nevada, a woman was being abused in public. When the abuser left, a stranger slipped her a piece of paper that read, “I’ll help you.” The note included a name and phone number.
The woman, desperate to escape her conditions, called the unnamed stranger who followed through with her promise. The single act of kindness and concern allowed the woman and her son to return to their hometown in Weiser, Idaho where they had support from family and friends.
In time, she was able to leave her past behind.
Grateful that she was able to start over and determined to help others with similar experiences, she ultimately formed a secret, underground network of volunteers and safe houses to help abused women and children, and ROSE Advocates, then named Project ROSE, was born.
The organization has grown, and no longer operates in the shadows, openly working to serve victims of sexual and domestic violence.
Larsen Takes the Job
Ms. Mann approached Larsen almost 10 years after ROSE Advocates was founded. Although she turned down the offer, Debi was persistent.
“She came up to me about three times and I kept turning her down,” explained Larsen, who experienced verbal abuse growing up. “For one thing, I just didn’t know if I could work with victims of domestic violence, and I didn’t know if I was even qualified to do that, which made it a little scary.”
That changed, as fate would have it, after a conversation she had with a female student.
“This girl told me that her parents got into a really bad fight the night before and that her dad hit her mom,” Larsen said. “She said that her dad was drunk. I told her she didn’t have to live that life, that she could change things for herself, but she pulled a $20 bill out of her pocket and told me, ‘Oh, no. When my dad’s drunk, he gives me anything I want.’”
That’s when Larsen began having second thoughts.
“She had no regard for her mom, and it just hit me, so I thought, ‘You know what, I need to take this job because one of these days this kid is going to be one of my clients and, low and behold, she was,’” Larsen said. “She’s great now. She’s very successful in life, but it was a slow start.”
Larsen had a change of heart and accepted the position, soon after starting her training program – that is, what there was of it.
“I didn’t know anything,” she said. “I didn’t know what I was doing, so they gave me this box full of (VHS) videos and that was the state training program.”
These days, the State of Idaho, through its Council on Domestic Violence and Victim Assistance, provides an array of workshops and training for those working with victims of abuse.
Since those early days, Larsen has attended countless training sessions, workshops and conferences throughout the country.
Although Weiser had an office, she spent much of her time working out of the trunk of her car, helping people in neighboring counties.
“I once worked with a woman who had no place to go, so I went to go pick her up; she had been hiding in a drain ditch,” Larsen said. “I went to my board of directors and told them that wherever we go, we had to have an office. We couldn’t just be located in Weiser anymore.”
Larsen eventually began establishing offices in Washington, Adams, Payette, Gem, Boise and Valley counties. She was also responsible for bringing ROSE Advocates out of the shadows, advertising in the newspaper and using other methods to get the word out about their services.
She has directed all six offices since they opened, each one managed by at least one volunteer and now paid staff.
Larsen also directed fundraising efforts for the construction of the Maple Tree House, a shelter for victims of abuse located in Payette. The shelter is named after John and Kazuko Boyle who ran a fruit stand on the site for many years. In 1998, the couple was brutally murdered in their home, which was also located on the property, after they helped a woman get out of an abusive relationship.
It took years to raise the money, but with help of the City of Payette who wrote and received a Community Development block grant, the shelter was eventually erected, opening its doors in 2012.
Time to Retire
Larsen never anticipated the career she fell into, but fate has a way of finding the right people. Through her work, and that of her many volunteers and staff, Larsen has helped countless individuals and families escape abuse and create new lives for themselves.
But every journey has an end.
After 25 years, she has decided to retire.
“It’s just time,” she said. “I don’t want to leave not liking what I am doing. I want to leave with that same feeling of love for my work. I want to leave on a good note.”
Larsen’s right-hand-woman, Veronica Vasquez, who has been with ROSE Advocates for about 12 years, will step into the Executive Director role. (Look for a future article on the new leader.)
“I’m not leaving 100 percent,” Larsen said. “I’m going to be Veronica’s assistant and consultant, but I’ll be working from home most of the time. If it weren’t for Veronica, I’d probably stay, but it’s going to be in good hands.”
So, what will she do with her extra time?
“Me and the girls are going to Margaritaville in March,” chuckled Larsen who also purchased a new golf cart. “I’m going to play some golf, too, but then I’m also going to clean my closets.”
(Falash worked for WSD for 36 years, serving as superintendent for 28 years. The high school’s gym was later named Tom Falash Gym in his honor.)
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