Supporting Monica Derhammer: A Fighter, A Mother, and a Pillar of Our Community

For more than 11 years, my sister, Monica Derhammer, has poured her heart into the Brownsburg community as the owner and certified personal trainer behind Hoosier Trainer. She built more than a business — she built a family. When COVID hit in 2020 and so many small businesses were forced to close their doors, Monica refused to let her members lose their sense of connection or their commitment to health. She filmed online workouts, encouraged her clients daily, and kept Hoosier Trainer alive through sheer determination and love for the people she serves until businesses were allowed to open the doors again.   

Monica has always been the one lifting others up. Now, she needs us to lift her.

In early December 2025, Monica received the devastating news that she had stage 3 breast cancer and tested positive for BRCA1 cancer gene.  Despite immediate treatment, the cancer has since spread and progressed to stage 4.  As she begins more aggressive treatment, her ability to work consistently will become increasingly limited.

Monica is a single mom doing everything she can to stay strong and support her two boys:

• Jace (18) — graduating from Avon High School this May 2026 and preparing to attend and play football at Trine University this fall
  
  
• Brody (11) — a student at Riverbirch Elementary who is preparing to transition into middle school next year.  He is aware that his mother is ill and struggling to fully understand the situation.
  
  

Being the sole provider for her family, this diagnosis brings not only emotional and physical challenges but also significant financial strain. Treatment, reduced work hours, and the everyday costs of raising two children create a burden no one should have to carry alone.

This fundraiser is to help relieve that burden. Your support will help Monica cover living expenses, medical costs not covered by insurance, groceries, meals and the day‑to‑day needs of her boys while she has to cut back on working. Most importantly, it will give Monica the space to focus on healing — not on how she will keep the lights on.   

If you know my sister, Monica, you know her strength, her kindness, and her unwavering commitment to others and her gym. Any support you can give means the world to us.  From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for standing with Monica during the fight of her life.   

Love her sister, 
Karen