Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Joyce Petrowski. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Joyce, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

In all honesty, I was not looking to start another nonprofit. Then I learned of a loved one who had been involved in a scam. I did lots of research and realized there a many great organizations that help scam victims and I took a different approach. Let’s help the older adults become more aware and educated on the scams that are targeting them and provide them with the necessary resources, tips, and tools so the older adults can protect themselves and their financial, emotional, and psychological well-being.

In August 2021, I founded R.O.S.E. Resources/Outreach to Safeguard the Elderly with the mission to prevent the financial exploitation and defrauding of the older adults through advocacy and education. Our vision is retirement should be the best years of your life; it needs to be protected at all costs.

Older adults are the most targeted population when it comes to scammers. We believe given the knowledge, the older adults will have the power to identify a scam and protect themselves. Knowledge is power! In addition to the knowledge, we provide many valuable resources that the older adults can implement which will assist in protecting them.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I have always been an avid volunteer and philanthropist so ending up in the nonprofit industry was a no brainer. Sometimes I wonder why it took me so long to figure this out! For a long time, I was busy with kids and volunteering at their school, church, and in the community. When the kids were older, I had more time and through volunteering with a community nonprofit, I saw a need in the community. The need stuck with me for a few years, then I decided to act on it. Myself and a few friends started a nonprofit in 2014. Co-founding and running a nonprofit was a big learning experience. You find yourself wearing many different hats and working long hours.

After 6 years with that nonprofit, I was tired and wanted to chill for a while. I wasn’t actively looking to start another nonprofit, Then an unmet need came along and I said ok, I’m going to do this. Starting and running a business, especially a nonprofit, is extremely difficult. I took a different approach and thought let’s fulfill this unmet need and serve the older adults, or seniors, in our community. After my first experience, I was much better prepared and knew it was going to take a lot of work.

In August 2021, R.O.S.E. Resources/Outreach to Safeguard the Elderly was started with the mission to prevent the financial exploitation and defrauding of the older adults through advocacy and education. Our vision is retirement should be the best years of your life; it needs to be protected at all costs.

Older adults are the most targeted population when it comes to scammers. According to the FBI’s 2023 Elder Fraud Report, the 60+ year old population reported losing $3.4 Billion to scammers. Scamming has become a big business and one that we are working very diligently to put a huge dent in their annual revenue!

We have an effective, recurring, comprehensive program designed for older adults that brings the awareness, understanding, protection resources, tips, and tools. We continue to have great success with our attendees in gaining the knowledge and power to protect themselves from scammers.

We want to continue to offer this much needed program to the older adults for free which is why we rely on program sponsors, grants, individual and corporate donations, and events to fund our program. You can view the many resources on our website, sign up for our emailed and/or mailed newsletters, social media links, our Let’s Talk About Scams podcast and provide a sponsorship or donation. https://www.roseadvocacy.org

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In the spring of 2021 I had left a nonprofit that I co-founded in 2014 and was exhausted. The last thing I wanted to do was start another business/nonprofit. I heard about a loved one who had fallen victim to a romance scammer so I did a lot of research and decided to start my second nonprofit in August 2021, R.O.S.E. Resources/Outreach to Safeguard the Elderly. Not much time to rest and relax between April and August! R.O.S.E. would be focused on scam prevention. Helping the older adults learn about scams and learn how to protect themselves.

Starting a nonprofit from scratch is hard! In the last three years of R.O.S.E., there have been times where I have thought, “I’m exhausted, do I really want to do this.” Then I look at the mission, read a story, talk to the older adults in our presentation, or get a call from someone who has been scammed and I’m rejuvenated and ready to keep going.

You have to build a database of donors, supporters, volunteers, etc. There are multiple funding options for nonprofits, such as grants, events, corporate and individual donors, sponsorships, and more. I built our case for support, joined many different networking groups and started to get the word out. While everyone said our mission was great for seniors, we couldn’t garner much support. I truly believe that people don’t believe they will be scammed until they are.

During the first three years of R.O.S.E., there have been some disappointments with fundraising efforts. It has been difficult to get grants, corporate partners, and individuals to help fund our work. Just when our financial position has looked bleak, an opportunity has always presented itself in the form of fundraising ideas or corporate/individual donors that have kept R.O.S.E. going and getting stronger.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When R.O.S.E. began, we initially provided our Fraud Awareness & Protection program to senior communities at no cost. Everyone loved the program and found value in it. After about 6 to 8 months of beta testing this program, we started to charge a fee for the program to cover the cost of the materials that were distributed and labor. Most of the senior communities did not have it in their budget to fund our fee to provide this program to their members. We then had to take a step back and look at this through the lens of the senior communities and the public in general.

Everyone had become accustomed to getting this information for free from the government. It is not actually free as our tax dollars are paying for it. But the perception was it was free since the communities were not underwriting the cost of the program.

After many discussions with our board, a few others and I put together a frequently asked questions one-pager which explains a variety of different information related to our program along with why we charge a fee. Ideally, the cost of the program would be funded through grants or some type of corporate sponsorship. Until we are able to secure this type of funding/sponsorship, we have decided that we have to continue to charge the program fee to enable us to carry out our mission.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.roseadvocacy.org
• Instagram: @rose_advocacy
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rose.resources.outreach
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/r-o-s-e-resources
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@r.o.s.e.resources-outreach203
• Other: Let’s Talk About Scams podcast on Apple, Spotify, and over 15 platforms