HOUSTON (KIAH) Dorothy Gibbons is the co-founder and CEO of The Rose- a nonprofit breast imaging center in Houston. Her passion for advocating for women inspired the inception of The Rose.

When she was just weeks away from her 21st birthday Dorothy’s mother died of cancer that tragedy left her asking herself one question.” I remember being so young, and at the time she was dying, I thought what would have been different if she had insurance,” said Dorothy Gibbons.  

Since 1986, The Rose has served over 900 thousand women and about a fourth were uninsured. The organization’s Mobile Mammography serves 12,000 women a year in rural areas.

The organization’s name was inspired by Dorothy’s middle name, “Rose,” and coincidentally, her co-founder’s middle name is also Rose.

The one thing we know is that if you catch cancer early, there is going to be a survival rate that is so much higher than if you catch it at a later, and that is what we’re all about.

Dorothy Gibbons

Dorothy says helping women was a calling she answered and hopes to pass on to those that come through the doors of the rose. “I think my legacy is already done; I think when I have women call me and say I watched my daughter get married or my grandson graduate, those are the things that are the legacy of the entire organization.”