Rose Schafhauser on a mission 

DULUTH, Minn. - For Rose Schafhauser, the 2025 Van Miller Homecare Champion, serendipity played a role in her first becoming an association executive director, but ever since then, she’s put in decades of hard work. 

HME News spoke with Schafhauser, who oversees MAMES and SWMESA, about her evolution and the power of showing up. 

HME News: You briefly considered switching careers after leaving your general manager role. What made you stay in the industry? 

Rose Schafhauser: My phone wasn’t ringing off the hook like I thought it would be. Being a general manager is such a stressful job that I thought, I'll just switch careers. I'll go scan groceries or whatever. Then—literally—the administrative assistant for the Minnesota association quit, and I said, “Hey Jim, how about if I managed Minnesota?” Everything fell in my lap right then and there. I signed the Minnesota contract on Dec. 13th, then reached out to the Midwest association a few days later. They said, “Perfect timing.” 

HME: What are the benefits of associations joining forces? 

Schafhauser: When I first signed the Minnesota contract, it was a very active association. We had close to 40 members, but it was always the same 20 people that did the work. Now we have the power to say we’re an eight-state association, plus you have the support of a full-time staff and website that’s incredible. Our shows have 50 or 60 exhibitors. In the fall, we had close to 70. 

HME: What’s changed in the industry over the last 40 years? 

Schafhauser: Unfortunately, we still have a “fraudulent” label hanging over us, but that’s diminished over the years—COVID helped tremendously. We’ve now garnered bipartisan support for industry issues. What still bites is reimbursement. It’s going to make or break this industry. 

HME: What’s the biggest lesson you’d pass on to the industry? 

Schafhauser: You have to get involved. I still have many of those conversations: What is the association doing for me? But what are you doing for your company? We're such a small, small industry, it takes everybody.