Although Tara Kane (nee Avila) lived in both Las Animas and Monte Vista before moving to Cañon City in 2002, she found a lifelong home in Fremont County along with love and a passionate career field.
When asked how she met her husband, Thomas, in 2003 Kane's reply was about as down-home as it gets.
"We met after I moved here, at Pioneer Days in Florence," she smiled.
It was kismet.
"We were that couple that I used to make fun of, like, I used to make fun of people that had just met and got engaged," Kane laughed, "We were engaged in three months and married in six."
The couple had big plans to raise their existing families together and Kane found solace and loving admiration in her new husband--a trait that continues to this day.
"He is my absolute best friend, my biggest supporter and he is, I think, the thing I admire most is his pursuit of God," she said. "We (our family) are very blessed."
Combined, the couple have four children and although three have grown and left the nest, Kane treasures the time she and Thomas have with their youngest. The two also enjoy spending time with their two grandchildren and, although they live in another part of Colorado, the Kanes look forward to any and every opportunity to be together.
However, Kane's success hasn't been relegated to her personal life.
Since 1996, Kane has worked in domestic abuse centers and she started her career as the assistant director of the domestic violence crisis center in Alamosa after graduating from Adams State University.
With young children, Kane decided to take a hiatus from work but it beckoned to her, regardless.
"I couldn't get this work out of my blood, it just becomes a part of who you are because this work is so personal. You are dealing with people's lives, day in and day out, and hopefully saving lives," she said.
In 2002, the director position for the Family Crisis Center became open and, not knowing a single soul, Kane decided it was time for a change. Shortly after, she met her husband and started to flourish as the new executive director.
She served ably until 2009 and then again in 2011, 2014, and 2021. The Family Crisis Center went through many ups and downs but, thanks to the dedicated leadership of Kane, successfully brought services and resources to its target demographic despite the hardships faced by the organization.
In the years that she took time away from the crisis center, Kane enjoyed diving head-first into the world of home-schooling and thoroughly enjoyed instructing two of her children. She had her reservations but her fears were soon assuaged.
"She (mother-in-law) said, 'If God's calling you to it. he's going to equip you to do it,'" she said.
In 2020/21 she returned to the homeschooling circuit for her youngest son and has enjoyed every second of it.
Her affinity for children was further buoyed when she and her husband became legal guardians and fostered a family friend's 2-year-old daughter in recent years. Despite her diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2019, Kane found the strength and desire to thoroughly enjoy the nine-month experience.
"It was hard but, at the same time, it (MS) does not define me," Kane commented, "And I consider her my third grandchild," Kane smiled.
Beautifully, Kane and her family still get to see the little girl on a semi-regular basis and are watching her grow from week to week.
Currently, as the interim executive director, Kane is working hard alongside her staff to bring in and support new staff in their desires to bring resources to families in chaos.
"I believe in the people that we serve. I will tell you that the survivors that walk through those doors or call our hotline are the strongest people that I have met and they are so inspiring--and they don't know it. I believe everybody has innate dignity, worth and is worthy of respect because they were created, they are human beings on this earth, because God put them here which gives them that innate dignity."
Though Kane will not be with the crisis center forever, she plans to continue to guide it in her remaining time and bring both staff training and development up to par.
In her spare time, she plans to thoroughly spoil the youngster that she and her family had previously fostered, spend time in her craft room making scrapbooks and cards, and spending time with her family. She looks forward to her eldest son's marriage in Washington in August and, year after a year looks forward to the state Homeschooling Conference, held in Denver.
Her life is particularly full and Kane doesn't take any one moment for granted--because you never know how many you have left.
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