When Patricia Flores called Broadview Emergency Shelter in 1994, she was only looking for a safe haven on her journey away from domestic violence (DV). She certainly found safety and security there. But more than that, she opened the door to a lifelong career as a community organizer and leader in the sexual assault and DV communities.
Patricia had fled the rural town of Toppenish with her 14-year-old daughter and nine-month-old grandson. She was offered a spot in a shelter on a former military base “in the middle of nowhere,” but turned it down because it felt scary and even more vulnerable. Then she called Broadview, Solid Ground’s emergency shelter and transitional housing facility for families escaping and recovering from DV.
Patricia Flores at Catherine Place, where she recently served as Executive Director (photo by Clarissa Magdich).
More than a safe place to stay
“They made an appointment for us to come and do an intake. The workers there were really helpful and empathetic. They really knew how to work with people who are going through a crisis. I felt like our bubble was very respected.”
Patricia’s main goals were to find work and a place to live. “I was a bit overwhelmed with all of that,” she says. “But I would go into Broadview’s family room to watch movies. I remember we would come down from our apartment on the third floor and I would see a flyer about Seattle Rape Relief wanting volunteers for their Rape Crisis line. And that really spoke to me. I looked at it for a couple weeks as I was looking for work.”
With her experience in administration, Patricia soon found work with a lawyer who needed bilingual staff (her first language is Spanish). And she became a Rape Crisis volunteer. “I would not have given a thought to it had I not been in that shelter and seen that flyer,” she says.
“I really believe that those of us who’ve been through such traumatic experiences, we connect, and we know who each other is.”
~Patricia Flores
Patricia completed Seattle Rape Relief’s 40-hour training and volunteered for the hotline. Her career path took her from Seattle Public Schools, where she served as supervisor of migrant education, to Columbia Legal Services, where she worked as a community worker.
Eventually, she became a sexual assault advocate and then landed on a position that tied together her personal experience and talents: Advocacy Coordinator for the Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, which had her leading trainings for advocates statewide. Most recently, she served as Executive Director of Tacoma’s Catherine Place, a resource center for women and LGBTQIA+ people.
Patricia at Catherine Place (photo by Clarissa Magdich).
A gift from the Creator
Patricia grew up in an immigrant farmworker community in the Yakima Valley. Her parents were activists who nurtured her sense of service. “That’s what we do in my community. We help each other, but I also believe as humans we’re born with certain aptitudes and strengths, and everybody’s gifts are unique,” she says.
Even at a young age Patricia recognized that empathy is among her strengths. “I learned in the 7th grade that I had a gift. One of my friends back then told me about her father molesting her. I don’t even remember what I said, or how I handled the situation. But she told me later that what I said helped her so much.
“I believe in Indigenous universal spirituality, and that is something the Creator gifted me with, and I am supposed to use.” This would become critical years later when she began running trainings for sexual assault advocates through the coalition. But it wasn’t always easy.
Patricia will be a featured speaker at Solid Ground’s 50th Anniversary Gala on Wednesday, May 8, 5:30pm at SUMMIT – a new and separate venue of the Seattle Convention Center.
See More Details & Get Tickets
‘Vulnerability is a superpower’
The first time Patricia led a sexual assault advocates training, the trauma of her own experiences came “crashing in” so hard she could feel it in her body. “I was in Spokane, right by Riverfront Park. I was in pain. I would go walking and I’m like, ‘It’s all right. You know why this is happening – because you received services and you know what it’s like.’ And so my first session was tough – and it was rewarding. At that point I really didn’t use what I learned from being a client of services.
“It just really reflects the innate possibilities of every human, given the right circumstances, and supporting them when their confidence is really low, or broken, or gone. And being that other human being – seeing them.”
~Patricia Flores
“But when I looked at the evaluations and I saw different people say, ‘I want to hear more of what it was like for you when you were starting,’ I cringed at that. I’m like, ‘Oh heck no, I can’t share that. When I made mistakes, I didn’t know what I was doing.’
“Then I thought, ‘OK, this is what they need. And you’re going to do it, and you’re going to be all right.’ And so I started talking about it. I shed tears. I told them, ‘It is not our shame. I feel really vulnerable sharing, and I know it’s needed. And vulnerability is a superpower when we’re ready to handle what we’re ready to handle. And we may not be – but if we are, it’s really empowering.’”
‘Innate possibilities’ of humans
Last fall, Patricia visited Broadview for the first time in 30 years. It was a deeply emotional moment.
“I really believe that those of us who’ve been through such traumatic experiences, we connect, and we know who each other is. Something spoke to me and said: ‘You were here, and now you were the executive director of a center, a nonprofit that helps women.’ It was really cathartic and mind blowing,” she says.
“And it just really reflects the innate possibilities of every human, given the right circumstances, and supporting them when their confidence is really low, or broken, or gone. And being that other human being – seeing them.”
Photo at top: In the three decades since Patricia Flores found a safe haven at Solid Ground’s Broadview Shelter, her life and career have been transformational (photo by Clarissa Magdich).
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