A Vision of Hope

I always say, "I was born a Vandal!" It was fun to grow up in Moscow, a vibrant university town and it was natural that I would attend college there. The highlight was finding my future husband--we were married for 45 years working together in the cattle feeding and ranching business and raising our son, Rob in Weiser. I worked in bookkeeping jobs for many years until attending TVCC, receiving my LPN certificate and switching careers to nursing and then becoming a pharmacy tech, while still serving as support personnel on the ranch 

I've spent 30 years as a member of our local school board and was proud to serve as president of the Idaho School Boards Association. I've recently purchased a condo in Moscow, as a second home, just 3 blocks from where I grew up, and plan to attend lots of U of I events. Go Vandals!

Blessed to be able to attend the first Sunrise Retreat, I've been involved with this amazing group of women ever since, and especially enjoy offering my chocolate sheet cake as a thank you for them including me in their loving arns!

I have worked with people my whole career in some capacity assisting, witnessing, and creating a healthier successful life. With 26 years of experience as an enrollment coordinator, coach, and facilitator for a personal & professional development company, I thoroughly enjoy sharing those skills with the Sunrise Retreats team.  

Some of the other skill sets I bring to our community include a practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), Hakomi Therapy, an Integrative Breathing Practitioner and group facilitator.  I have been a white water rafter for over 40 years.

When my husband died in 2016 of Glioblastoma, I attended the hopsic grief support program.  It was here that  I found out about Sunrise Retreats.  After attending the first retreat in McCall, I continued to connect, heal and grow alongside my fellow widows.  

Marie became an avid supporter of Sunrise Retreats after hearing Marni speak of her widow journey and her "Dream".  

She then participated in the first retreat in 2017 which was not only inspirational and life changing but it sparked a keen interest and willingness to be part of this amazing group. 

As a profession, Marie is a retired nurse and she feels she can be a benefit as a medical presence during retreats and beyond. She has a good listening and sympathetic ear, a compassionate and calm nature along with comforting hugs. It is an honor for her to serve as a volunteer.  

I am a 3rd generation native Idahoan and my roots run deep. My professional life was my children. I stayed home with them until they were in secondary school when I took a full-time administrative assistant job at a junior high school. 

My daughter introduced me to Sunrise Retreats through her association with River Discovery, a co-sponsor of Sunrise Retreats. She basically said I needed to go on this retreat and wouldn’t accept my “I don’t want to” as a viable excuse. Sunrise Retreats was a catalyst for me to redefine myself, to venture outside of my safe, predictable world, and to move forward with my life. It is an honor, a privilege and a rewarding journey to be involved in a mission whose intention is grounded in helping women be their best selves after losing the love of their lives. 

My hope is that I bring kindness, compassion, empathy, a sympathetic history of being a caregiver, and a welcoming bench for other widows to sit and share their stories – free of judgment or expectation. I believe in Sunrise Retreats because I know firsthand that their mission is noble, worthy and meaningful.

I am Carol Winn and I was born in Canada, but grew up in California where I met and married my handsome husband when I was only 18.  I spent many years as a stay at home mom raising 4 sons.  When they were teens I went to work as a union grocery checker where I spent 15 years. Then we moved to Idaho where I worked in accounting at Dept of Fish and Game for 9 yrs and then West Ada School District for 9 years.

After losing my husband of 50 yrs to cancer I was totally lost and broken.  I saw a flier for Sunrise Retreats at my grief group, and something told me I needed to go.  I attended the very first retreat and  it changed my life, and since i have volunteered at the past two retreats because I want to give back.  I want to support and help in any way I can. If I can give hope to just one widow that is feeling the pain I have felt, that is my purpose in volunteering.

I’ve lived in Boise for over 15 years and am enjoying raising my two children (ages 12 & 14) in Idaho. I grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, and loved being by the ocean. When I was in college, I worked at Glacier National Park and fell in love with the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. I then moved to Seattle, San Francisco, and Portland where I reconnected with my husband, an old family friend who I’d last seen when I was 8 years old. We decided to move to New Meadows and put down roots in Idaho.

I studied biology at several universities in the Southeast. My first “real” job was treating cancer patients as a radiation therapist, and then I transitioned into clinical research working for several pharmaceutical companies over the past 20 years in various therapeutic areas such as oncology, ophthalmology, cardiovascular, respiratory, central nervous system, and women’s health. 

I knew I wanted to be a part of Sunrise Retreats as soon as I met Marni paddleboarding at a River Discovery event a few months after my husband had passed away. Knowing that Marni had experienced the same type of loss and seeing her positive energy, contagious smile, and radiating light, gave me the first glimmer of hope after the loss of Gavin. I learned so much from Sunrise Retreats and Marni’s classes that first year of widowhood so I wanted to be sure other widows could continue to benefit from these opportunities and help in any capacity to keep the SR flame burning.

I love going to concerts, hiking, road tripping with my kids, exploring as many National Parks as possible, camping, napping in my hammock, taking barre classes, and the smell of tomato plants.

An adamant believer one only needs to be passionately curious to be creative, 

Jan brings a quiver of inspiration, creativity, and expertise to the Sunrise Retreat team. Her desire to help others ran deep after the loss of her husband, and she sought the training to become a certified grief recovery specialist. 

As a creative, she has developed a unique retreat experience to explore self-discovery through art. Jan finds inspiration through the lens of her camera, the intimate conversations with others, and embracing daily opportunities and challenges. 

As a marketing manager at a Boise-based digital marketing firm, Jan is the wrangler of tasks, keeper of peace, and organizer extraordinaire. Social media master and knick-knack emporium curator. She knows good marketing comes from collaboration, a warm office, and a few cups of strong coffee. 

The sanctity of life and the loss of it is a profound, prevalent thought in Amber Dresslar’s life. After learning about Sunrise Retreats and its manifesto she found her soul being drawn to its mission. She wanted to support and be a part of an organization that helped other individuals navigate the life altering event of a significant other’s death. Amber Dresslar is an empowering and sympathetic individual who seeks to support others around her and is grateful to offer her support to Sunrise Retreats. She is a general civil litigation attorney who has experience in many fields of law, who also offers her services in representing guardian ad litems for the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program. Outside of her career, Amber looks for adventure from tiny to big moments, enjoys a newfound love for snow skiing, playing in the water at every opportunity, and seeks opportunities to learn and grow. 

Katie Rhodenbaugh is a dynamic, multifaceted professional with a heart for serving others. Ms. Rhodenbaugh is currently coordinating the innovative Non-Traditional Educator Preparation Program at the College of Southern Idaho (CSI-NTEPP). She had the privilege of hosting a local lifestyle TV show called Idaho Living, where she was honored to showcase the people, businesses, food, and lifestyle that make Idaho so amazing. She additionally works as an education consultant taking on special projects for the Idaho State Board of Education. With nearly 20 years of successful leadership, public speaking, and management experience in such diverse industries as fine dining, resort hospitality, medical esthetics, staff training, entrepreneurship, television, and P-20 education, Katie has a strong track record of effectively collaborating with local and state leaders, legislators, schools, districts, college and university faculty, and community partners. Serving on multiple boards including two Pathways in Education charter school boards, Sunrise Retreats board of directors, and the executive board of her children’s school PTA. 

After 26 years, I retired from a personal and professional development company to take care of my husband who passed away in 2016.  I have 2 sons and 4 grandsons.  After attending the very first Sunrise Retreat in 2017, I knew I wanted to be apart of this organization.  Not only do I enjoy being on the board, but I also love being able to use my professional skills in the coordination of our retreat schedule...and help other women enjoy kayaking!   Sylvia facilitates many of our monthly Pop Up Retreats and monthly Widow Connect Zoom calls!