Kami and Haley Schmidt are leaders of the East Central Minnesota Vasculitis Support Group. In this presentation, Kami shares her own experience with begin diagnosed with vasculitis in 2009. In 2012, Kami and her daughter, Haley, decided to create a VF support chapter. They talk about what it takes to run a support group, and the rewards it has brought them.
Haley Schmidt · Co-Chair, East Central Minnesota VF Support Group, Pine City, Minnesota
Haley Schmidt has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Family Studies, from St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, and is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Radiation Therapy from St. Catherine University in St. Paul. In August 2019, upon graduation and certification, she looks forward to joining a specialty cancer care team at a Minnesota hospital. Haley became involved with the Vasculitis Foundation after her mother, Kami Schmidt, was diagnosed with microscopic polyangiitis. In 2012, they worked together to establish the East Central Minnesota Vasculitis Support Group.
Kami Schmidt · Co-Chair, East Central Minnesota VF Support Group, Pine City, Minnesota
Kami Schmidt works in the manufacturing industry as a production planner for one of the top plastic injection molders in North America. After years of living with a multitude of symptoms, and nearly losing her life to organ failure, Kami was diagnosed with microscopic polyangiitis in 2009. She said if she survived, she wanted to do something to help alleviate the fear and isolation associated with diagnosis. In 2012, Kami and her daughter, Haley Schmidt, started the East Central Minnesota Vasculitis Support Group.
