Meet Board Member Lori Vander Ploeg

Meet Board Member Lori Vander Ploeg

by Lori | 12.05.2020

I wanted to take just a few minutes to tell you a bit about myself. 

Hi everyone!

My name is Lori Vander Ploeg, and I am the newest member of Family Hope Foundation’s board. I wanted to take just a few minutes to tell you a bit about myself. 

I have been married to my husband, Ben, for 18 years. We have two amazing kiddos, Sophia, who is 13 and an 8th grader at Hudsonville Christian, and Cooper, who is 11 and has severe autism. We also have a sweet pup named Molly who rounds out our family perfectly. 

In my free time, I love to run or read. When a book is really good, I end up reading more than running, but both help me carve out some time just for me. 

I am a registered nurse, but I don’t work outside of the house at the moment. I have 14 years of experience as a labor and delivery nurse, and 3 as a school nurse. In 2019, I left my school nurse job to be able to bring Cooper to and from his therapy center every day. He is not able to go to school in the traditional sense, and he quite often needs days at home to rest and reset. 

My son is a big reason why I am so excited to join the board of Family Hope Foundation. Years ago, we were blessed to get a scholarship to help pay for some of Cooper’s therapies. Few people really understand how expensive therapies are for our kiddos or that, quite often, insurance will only pay for a portion of it. I love that this organization helps families right here in West Michigan access therapies that otherwise would not be affordable. 

I’m looking forward to getting to know all the families that are a part of Family Hope Foundation and being involved in something that makes a difference in the lives of our special needs kiddos!

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