STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

At 35 years of age, The Advocates is one of the oldest nonprofits in the Wood River Valley, organized initially to serve women and children fleeing domestic abuse.

But The Advocates’ CEO Tricia Swartling says that many of those who attend the organization’s annual Color Our World fundraiser remark how they did not know the depth and breadth of what the organization does.

"They think we're The Attic," she said, referring to the Hailey thrift store that supports the organization. "Even R.L. Rowsey, who is leading the paddle up, said there were many things he did not know, such as how The Advocates supports early childhood learning.”

Susanne McKinney and Erin Munro stand in front of streamers representing the ribbons that will be hung in Memory Park. “I believe in everything they do. No community should be without them,” said McKinney.

Rowsey confirmed that he had learned a lot about the organization as he studied its website before taking the stage.

"I lead the paddle raising for organizations I know and care about because they’re doing good works," he said. “When I went online to read up on The Advocates, I thought it would be heavy. But, instead, I found words like ‘thrive’ and ‘success.’ "

Those words set the tone for an evening that balanced celebration with a powerful reminder of why The Advocates exists — and why it needs the community's continued support.

Swartling greeted the crowd that packed the lounge of Ketchum’s Limelight Hotel, sipping margaritas and wine and nibbling on chicken waffle sliders, by thanking board members and staff for their "incredible job with hard work."

Nancy Mihalic and Jane Conner were among the early arrivals.

She then turned the audience's attention forward, announcing that The Advocates’ new building being built on Hailey’s River Street will open in November, doubling The Advocates' transitional housing capacity to 38 apartments.

"That's really important because we always have a wait list," she said.

The new facility will also add four units of employee housing to support the nonprofit's workforce and expand the Thrive Kids Early Learning Center, which provides much needed child care on a sliding scale while endowing young’uns with the know-how they’ll need to enter school.

Shannon Nichols, the organization's Director of Development Engagement, then took the stage to recognize a long list of sponsors whose commitment goes far beyond sponsorship.

Tricia Swartling and Lori Dean heeded orders to dress colorfully.

"They have chosen to invest in safety, healing, hope, and an opportunity for those rebuilding their lives,” she said.

The list ran deep — from longtime partners like Lloyd Construction, Cox, and Dr. Tom Archie and Heidi Woog’s Interhealth MD to new sponsors, such as AC's Houston Lumber and CNR Electric. Nichols thanked Architect Errin Bliss for designing "a beautiful building” and noted that High Country Heating and Air is outfitting every transitional housing unit with its own heating and cooling system.

"This is exciting stuff," she said.

The evening's emotional centerpiece came when Raquel, a clinical psychologist working for The Advocates, took the stage alongside a woman who, like so many, has benefitted from the counseling, shelter and other services The Advocates have provided over the years.

Tables sporting wine and hors d’oeuvres were colorful in keeping with the theme.

The woman, Raquel told the audience, was the first survivor she ever served — 25 years ago. She then read the words the woman had written herself.

Her story silenced the room as she shared how she discovered her daughter had been abused by her father. She gathered her children and fled, knocking on countless doors searching for an apartment.

Church members in Blaine County helped temporarily, and a woman who had once received services from The Advocates encouraged her to contact them.

“We were afraid, desperate,” she wrote. “We needed a safe place to live. When I first arrived at the Advocates, I was welcomed with kindness and compassion. From the moment we arrived, I felt a sense of peace. The shelter felt like home."

The staff made an exception to allow her teenage son to stay with the family. Every member of the team showed her that she and her children mattered.

"Most importantly, they made me feel that I was not just another case. I was a woman fighting for her children. I was strong. I was resilient, and for the first time in a long time, I was no longer alone."

The feeling of safety they gave her, she wrote, was like the feeling her own parents gave her as a child: "I trusted them completely because I knew they would do everything they could to protect us. That sense of security gave me the strength to rebuild my life, and it gave my children the opportunity to heal."

The room responded with sustained applause.

The auction packages drew spirited bidding. They included artwork by Bibi Jilou, a season parking pass at Sun Valley’s River Run Plaza, an Emerald City estate luxury getaway in Seattle, which came with a hockey stick signed by Sun Valley's own five-time Olympian Hilary Knight;

An Italian-inspired dinner for eight hosted by board member Wally Jarman with dessert by Swartling herself proved so popular that Rowsey sold it to two bidders. A heli-skiing package for four generated the evening's most intense bidding, selling for $11,000.

Color Our World didn’t end with Thursday evening’s Ribbon Raise cocktail party. It continues this week, with volunteers hanging colored ribbons at Ketchum’s Memory Park at 5th and Main streets.

Purple ribbons, hung for donations of $100, provide one safe night of shelter for a survivor escaping abuse. A $500 donation buys a blue ribbon to equip every eighth grader in the community with tools to build healthy respectful relationships. Pink ribbons, at $5,000 provide legal advocacy for protection, custody and divorce. And so on….

Raffle tickets, which cost $25 each, are available for such prizes as a stay in Park City for up to eight guests; two nights at the Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch with its sumptuous breakfasts, dinners and picnic lunches; a Sun Valley season ski pass, $1,000 in gift certificates to 10 local restaurants; a Jackson Hole Getaway, and a Zenergy Health Membership.

The drawing will be held on Monday, June 29. Ribbons and raffle tickets can be purchased at https://event.auctria.com/e0a8d087-02dc-474e-9254-69df8057c61f/.