{"id":11189,"date":"2025-05-28T12:16:55","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T19:16:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/?p=11189"},"modified":"2025-05-28T12:16:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T19:16:55","slug":"lori-healing-grief-with-community-independence-and-laughter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/news\/lori-healing-grief-with-community-independence-and-laughter\/","title":{"rendered":"Lori: Healing Grief with Community, Independence, and Laughter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Lori lights up every room with her radiant smile and warm spirit, ensuring that everyone at Hope Services in Santa Cruz feels welcomed and included. For nearly 20 years, Lori has been a member of the Hope community, building lasting friendships with both staff and fellow participants.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most meaningful aspects of Lori\u2019s life at Hope is the time she shares with her boyfriend, Adrien. The two have been together for 18 years, which to Lori has felt like a lifetime of love. Just the mention of his name brings the biggest smile to her face.<\/p>\n<p>Lori attends the Day Program five days a week and participates in every activity with much joy. Her strong support system and consistent routine have provided a solid foundation as she\u2019s faced life\u2019s inevitable challenges. She has emerged stronger and more resilient with each experience.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11192 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_9735-scaled-e1748459483779.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"443\" height=\"474\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hopeservices.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_9735-scaled-e1748459483779.jpg 1707w, https:\/\/hopeservices.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_9735-scaled-e1748459483779-768x823.jpg 768w, https:\/\/hopeservices.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_9735-scaled-e1748459483779-1434x1536.jpg 1434w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 443px) 100vw, 443px\" \/>Delainey, a Support Specialist at the Santa Cruz office, has been part of Lori\u2019s journey and transformation over the years. She recalls that before Lori joined the<strong> Employment, Media, and Community Connections (EMCC)<\/strong> program, she was sweet but much more reserved. Lori recalls that during her time at Cabrillo Community College, she struggled to find a passion and circle of friends.<\/p>\n<p>Now 63, Lori has experienced significant changes in her life. Until last year, she lived with her parents in a home that was difficult to access, which made spending time with friends and Adrien challenging. Tragically, she lost both parents within six months of each other, leaving her to navigate the deep grief of losing her family home and her beloved parents.<\/p>\n<p>While navigating grief, Lori&#8217;s resilience shone through. With the support of her sisters, Adrien, her friends, and the dedicated staff at Hope Services, she continues to thrive. She has transitioned from<strong> Independent Living Services (ILS)<\/strong> to<strong> Supported Living Services (SLS)<\/strong> and now lives independently with the help of Hope\u2019s team. \u201cThey have been very helpful!\u201d Lori says. They assist her with groceries, cooking, and driving her to visit Adrien.<\/p>\n<p>Joining EMCC has opened new doors for Lori, including employment opportunities like her job at <strong>HopeTHRIFT<\/strong> in Watsonville. Delainey shares that Lori is very proud about earning her own money. Her independence has given her a new sense of freedom and empowerment. Recently, she found two glasses while thrifting and couldn\u2019t wait to show them off during Delainey\u2019s next visit. For Lori, the possibilities ahead feel endless.<\/p>\n<p>Looking to the future, Lori hopes to spend more time with Adrien and her friends. She dreams of one day visiting Jamaica, inspired by her love for Bob Marley. If you\u2019re lucky enough to meet Lori, she\u2019ll greet you with a cheerful high five and plenty of laughter.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/how-we-help\/day-services\/emcc-day-services\/\"><strong>To learn more about the EMCC Program, click here.\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-11190 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_9697-scaled-e1748459648275.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hopeservices.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_9697-scaled-e1748459648275.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/hopeservices.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_9697-scaled-e1748459648275-768x420.jpg 768w, https:\/\/hopeservices.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_9697-scaled-e1748459648275-1536x840.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/hopeservices.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_9697-scaled-e1748459648275-2048x1120.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lori lights up every room with her radiant smile and warm spirit, ensuring that everyone at Hope Services in Santa Cruz feels welcomed and included. For nearly 20 years, Lori has been a member of the Hope community, building lasting friendships with both staff and fellow participants. One of the most meaningful aspects of Lori\u2019s&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":11193,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[206],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[102,222,470,648,99,117,282,262,950,205,221,167,98,1782,275,450,228],"class_list":["post-11189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpautop"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v14.4.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lori: Healing Grief with Community, Independence, and Laughter | Hope Services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lori lights up every room with her radiant smile and warm spirit, ensuring that everyone at Hope Services in Santa Cruz feels welcomed and included. Tragically, last year she lost both parents within six months of each other, leaving her to navigate the deep grief of losing her family home and her beloved parents. While navigating grief, Lori&#039;s resilience shone through. With the support of her sisters, her boyfriend Adrien, her friends, and the dedicated staff at Hope Services, she continues to thrive.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/news\/lori-healing-grief-with-community-independence-and-laughter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lori: Healing Grief with Community, Independence, and Laughter | Hope Services\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lori lights up every room with her radiant smile and warm spirit, ensuring that everyone at Hope Services in Santa Cruz feels welcomed and included. Tragically, last year she lost both parents within six months of each other, leaving her to navigate the deep grief of losing her family home and her beloved parents. While navigating grief, Lori&#039;s resilience shone through. With the support of her sisters, her boyfriend Adrien, her friends, and the dedicated staff at Hope Services, she continues to thrive.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/news\/lori-healing-grief-with-community-independence-and-laughter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hope Services\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-28T19:16:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_9754-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/\",\"name\":\"Hope Services\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/news\/lori-healing-grief-with-community-independence-and-laughter\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_9754-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/news\/lori-healing-grief-with-community-independence-and-laughter\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/news\/lori-healing-grief-with-community-independence-and-laughter\/\",\"name\":\"Lori: Healing Grief with Community, Independence, and Laughter | Hope Services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/news\/lori-healing-grief-with-community-independence-and-laughter\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-28T19:16:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-28T19:16:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hopeservices.org\/#\/schema\/person\/c7b878f308cad9f6e7a57512c32219ee\"},\"description\":\"Lori lights up every room with her radiant smile and warm spirit, ensuring that everyone at Hope Services in Santa Cruz feels welcomed and included. Tragically, last year she lost both parents within six months of each other, leaving her to navigate the deep grief of losing her family home and her beloved parents. While navigating grief, Lori's resilience shone through. 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