Dense Breast Tissue, Ultrasound, and Early Detection
Lynn Dozier shares how a free mammogram at Texas Southern led to follow up care at The Rose, ongoing monitoring of calcifications, and a new level of ownership over her breast health. Along the way, she talks about Skate Church, community, and staying mentally strong while friends faced breast cancer.
When Corporate Care Meets Community Flair: Celanese’s Touch
Michael Bland, Capital Project Stewardship Leader at Celanese, illustrates how their proactive approach led them to The Rose, supporting its mission through donations and involvement. From providing much-needed chemo kits to actively participating in community events, Celanese has become a partner rather than just a donor. Their employees, driven by values and empowered by the organization, strive to make a profound impact in the community.
Interview with Emilee Whitehurst (Part 1): When Enough Is Enough: Emilee Whitehurst on Burnout and Beginning Again
In this first conversation, Emilee Whitehurst traces her path from human biology and divinity school into community organizing, parish ministry, and leadership at Interfaith Action of Central Texas, the Rothko Chapel, Planned Parenthood, and the Houston Area Women’s Center. She describes guiding shelters through COVID, running three facilities at once, and realizing that every minute of her life was organized around work. Emilee explains how a single thought — “I do not have to keep doing this” — triggered a powerful physical release, pushed her to live off retirement savings, and forced her to relearn what rest feels like, rethink her worth, and imagine a different way to lead and live.
Uninsured but Not Alone: A Woman’s Gratitude for The Rose
Judy Pareya is a breast cancer survivor and dedicated volunteer at The Rose. She joins Dorothy to share her powerful story, emphasizing the life-saving importance of early detection. Judy’s experience underscores the vital role The Rose plays in providing care for uninsured women.
More Than Mammograms: How Anna Turns Grants Into Lifesaving Care
In this episode, Anna Caballero explains how she matches The Rose’s mission with state programs, foundations, and local donors, why rural counties and maintenance funds matter as much as screening dollars, and how her own mother’s late‑stage breast cancer diagnosis shaped her passion for access and self‑advocacy. She shares how today’s funders expect data, outcomes, and systems change, and why she still believes every mammogram sits inside a much bigger story of community health, navigation, and follow‑up.
We Challenge You to Outbid THIS GUY at The Shrimp Boil
Pat McDavid, affectionately known as “Sunshine,” has supported The Rose for years. For close to ten years, Pat has attended our annual Shrimp Bowl. And without fail, he gets the crowd going with the raising of his live auction paddle
When Reimbursement Shrinks and Need Grows: A New CEO’s View From The Rose
During this conversation, COO Jessica Duckworth sits down with Angie Lane to talk about what surprised her most in her first six weeks, why 3D mammography on five pink coaches is non‑negotiable for twenty‑six Texas counties with no freestanding imaging, and how shrinking insurance and Medicare payments make patient navigation and financial stewardship core to The Rose’s future.
What’s Cooking Behind the Scenes at Shrimp Boil: Grit, Gratitude and Giving Back
Have you ever thought getting involved in a cause would mean so much more after a personal diagnosis? For some, it starts as volunteering or supporting loved ones. For others, it becomes a personal journey of survival, advocacy, and sharing information.
Community Theater, Breast Cancer, and the Louise McBee Circle of Wreaths
Susan has been connected to The Rose since the mid-1980s, when her boss at Texas Commerce Bank handed her a stack of newspaper articles and asked her to learn everything she could about a surgeon named Dr. Dixie Melillo. That assignment turned into a decades-long relationship with The Rose, years of emceeing fundraising style shows, and an unbroken commitment to the mission that continues today. She launched the Louise McBee Circle of Life Circle of Wreaths, an annual wreath auction run entirely by Art Park Players volunteers in honor of her mother. Her message throughout the years is simple, yet profound: everyone carries a light, and even the smallest flame can be the brightest thing in someone’s darkest moment.
Attorney, CPA, Philanthropist, and Breast Cancer Survivor: Marilyn Sims
Marilyn is an attorney, CPA, and president of the Bill and Helen Crowder Foundation, the private foundation whose generosity helped build The Rose’s podcast studio. She has been a Rose patient since the late 1970s, when she came in for her very first mammogram after moving to Houston. Decades later, she found herself in a very different role, as a Stage III HER2 positive breast cancer patient. Her advice is simple and direct: check yourself between mammograms, get second opinions, take care of yourself first, and know that The Rose and organizations like it exist so that every woman, insured or not, has a path to care.