The Women of the Rose

Texas women have a well-earned reputation for big hair, big hearts and Texas-sized tenacity. The Women of The Rose is the story of such women -- the kind who didn't let the "little" things like no money, no experience with non-profits, and no breaks in the glass ceiling keep them from launching what has become a 30-year investment in life-saving women's health. In this collection of stories from co-founder Dorothy Gibbons you will discover what it took to face naysayers, build a legacy, and even take on what once was a death sentence for 1000s of women. By the mid 1980s the oil bust had paralyzed Texas. Folks were out of work, most had lost their health insurance and many were losing their homes. In the midst of all the chaos and uncertainty, the incidence of breast cancer began its deadly climb. Poor and uninsured women were hit the hardest and many died because they couldn't get help in time. At a chance meeting in 1984, hospital public relations director Dorothy Gibbons and general surgeon Dr. Dixie Melillo were challenged by the famed journalist Rose Kushner to do something about it. So they decided to start their own non-profit, a diagnostic clinic that would care for the thousands of Texas women who had nowhere else to turn and who would die without help. At a time when succeeding as a non-profit was against all the odds, The Rose was born. From its humble beginnings in a tiny office in a strip mall, The Rose now serves 40,000 people a year, women from all walks of life, from huge cities or small rural communities who face falling through the cracks of the healthcare system. This is the story of how The Rose was born and how it survived, a story of strong, determined women who did whatever it took to care for one other. It is the story of shrimp boils and skydiving, of pink goats and the pain of watching so many die. It is the story of unfathomable generosity, unexpected corruption, and the hard truth about who can afford healthcare and who can't. It is a story about the power of believing and a salute to the courage and tenacity of women.