Lori and Traci Potter began their careers as nurses. Experiences during their teenage years helped cement their passion of caring for older adults. While still in junior high, Traci helped care for an elderly neighbor when her family needed to be away, even learning to give her insulin. For Lori, losing her grandfather when she was seventeen was a pivotal moment. “I was close with my grandparents while I was growing up,” says Lori. “I lived with my grandmother for two months after my grandpa died – it was just something I wanted to do.”
With some 30 years’ experience in senior living, Lori is a 13-year veteran of UMRC and serves as the Chief Operating Officer for UMRC & Porter Hills. Traci is the Administrator/Director of Nursing/Guide for UMRC & Porter Hills’ Green House® Homes in Grand Rapids, a model for skilled nursing that embraces person-centered care, individual choices, and close personal attention for its residents. “It feels like a family,” says Traci. “It’s a very supportive environment.”
Lori appreciates the goals and guiding beliefs of UMRC & Porter Hills. “The mission isn’t just something written on a wall; we actually live it out.”
“The joy of working with older adults is not always recognized or appreciated by society as a whole,” adds Traci. “Seniors are also underserved as far as philanthropy is concerned.” It’s why this couple supports the work of the UMRC Foundation and Porter Hills Foundation, and why they are part of the Legacy Society for including the Foundation in their estate plan.
“I know the Foundation will follow through on what it says it will do with our gifts,” says Lori. Traci agrees. “If we can make a difference in an older adult’s life and help them enjoy their later years, that’s what we want to do.”
To learn more about ways you can bless the lives of older adults with your own planned gift, contact the UMRC Foundation at 734.433.1000 ext. 7502 or the Porter Hills Foundation at 616.577.2297.