October 15, 2025 | By Emilie Jacques
Copper Shores Community Health Foundation is excited to welcome Ayla LaRoe to the team as the new Victim Advocate. LaRoe joined Copper Shores Victim Support in September 2025, equipped with the skills and ambition to help victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and suicide loss better understand the legal process while on their healing journey. She looks forward to completing training in November, taking on cases and helping fellow community members.
LaRoe was born and raised in Chassell, where she graduated high school before attending Western Michigan University for a bachelor’s degree. Though LaRoe carried a strong passion for learning, affordability became an obstacle.
“I come from a more underprivileged background as a nontraditional first generation college student,” said LaRoe. “I had been to nine different schools post high school trying to figure out what I wanted and how I could pay for things, so scholarships took me to different places. That’s part of the reason I wanted to come back and help this area, because I know how difficult it can be to get a step forward.”
LaRoe continued her education at multiple schools, enrolling wherever scholarships took her. In 2017 LaRoe finished her associate degree from Eastern Gateway Community College, all while working full time as a manager at K.C. Bonker's in downtown Hancock. She then attended University of Colorado - Colorado Springs to study neuropsychology, taking part in the geropsychology research team, studying neurodegenerative disease at the UCCS Aging Center.
In 2019, LaRoe moved back home to help care for family, and began attending Northern Michigan University online. While earning her degree, LaRoe worked full-time as a Bankruptcy and Foreclosure Operations Analyst for Midwest Loan Services and got licensed to do lash extensions, later opening her own lash extension studio. When opportunity arose, she moved to Madison, beginning work as a professional makeup artist for MAC Cosmetics. In May of 2023, LaRoe graduated with a bachelor degree in Interdisciplinary Psychology from NMU.
“During my final semester, I took a course called ‘Women in Politics and Education,’” said LaRoe. “I became inspired to pursue the legal realm of empowering people as opposed to the more personal realm of pursuing psychiatry.”
She is currently pursuing a paralegal licensure in Legal Services from Purdue University, which she expects to complete in March of 2026. This license will allow her to help bridge the gap in legal services between clients and the Victim Support team.
“I love that she brings a whole new fresh perspective,” said Virginia Lambert, Victim Support program director. “She has worked in a variety of jobs that has allowed her to work with multiple walks of life. She still has her finger on the pulse of university kids, and she’s not afraid of bringing forward ideas.”
LaRoe aims to bring her experience and knowledge with the legal process to the forefront of advocacy at Copper Shores.
“We have our actual legal guidance and legal counsel to support us,” explained LaRoe, “But as an advocate, we're going to be some of the first people to see victims, and knowing how to follow a general legal process is important. It's huge for the well-being of the individual, and for them to be confident in what our role is.”
In her free time, LaRoe can be found exploring the outdoors with a camera and her dog, or snuggled up with a book on philosophy, psychology or theoretical physics.
Learn more about the services provided by Victim Support by visiting the Victim Support page on the Copper Shores website. Stay up to date on news, events and program updates by signing up for the free monthly email newsletter.
