SonRise Mentor — Laurie

Laurie learned to ride in Chicago when she was 13.

• Graduate Roxbury High, Succasuna, New Jersey
• Morris County Community College, AS, Secretarial Sciences

In her words...

"I was employed with Coopers & Lybrand in San Francisco for 9 years. After my first child was born I became an at-home Mom. I have volunteered extensively at Valley Christian Schools I Dublin (running a lunch program, organizing Field Days, field trips, and classroom help).

"I have been enamored of horses all my life. I learned to ride while working at a stables outside of Chicago guiding trail rides when I was 13 to 16 years old. My husband and I purchased our first horses in 1979 and "rode the trails".

"Some 18 years later we adopted three unbroken Arabia horses and hired Charles Wilhelm to train them. What a fantastic experience! I was humbled. I brought the horses home, but continued attending clinics and taking riding lessons.

"I met Melanie Buerke at Charles Wilhelm's Training Center in Castro Valley. She told me of her dream to help children through horses and vice versa. I was hooked and began volunteering right away by offering our property for horse rehabilitation and later mentoring children. SonRise has been a wonderful and rewarding experience for me."

— Laurie