Marni Cherrin, of Huntington Woods, seen here with family, will be honored with an award from Yoga Moves MS at a gala in Lathrup Village for her advocacy work with the organization.
By: Mike Koury | Woodward Talk | Published November 11, 2025
HUNTINGTON WOODS — A Huntington Woods woman living with multiple sclerosis will be honored for her advocacy work.
Marni Cherrin will be recognized by Yoga Moves MS at its Gratitude Gala with a Community Leadership Award. The gala will be held Saturday, Nov. 15, at The Mint, 27000 Evergreen Road in Lathrup Village.
Cherrin has been living with MS for 17 years. She was diagnosed in 2007 but unknowingly had symptoms for years. As far back as her time in college, Cherrin had dealt with tingling in her hands and feet, which she attributed to poor circulation.
She also saw symptoms after each of her three pregnancies, such as tingling in her spine. The symptoms following each pregnancy became more intense and were at their worst after giving birth to her third child. This included the MS hug, where a person has a tightening feeling around their chest, which Cherrin said “feels like you can’t breathe.”
Cherrin knew for sure she had MS when she went to pick up a friend from the airport. Driving with her three kids in the back seat, she said she started to see two rows of traffic. The double vision was so bad that Cherrin had to ask her friend to drive back because she believed she had MS.
“The only reason I thought that was because the doctor I had most recently seen had told me that I could have a vitamin deficiency, a pinched nerve, whatever. He didn’t think it was MS because I didn’t have any vision symptoms. And then I got the vision symptoms,” she said. “So, just all of those symptoms ... they just came back with a vengeance after each pregnancy and then the worst was after my third pregnancy,”
After getting an MRI, Cherrin officially was diagnosed with MS in April 2007. In the 18 years since, she said she’s been lucky with how her MS has affected her.
Amid her worries about how she would live with MS, one piece of advice that she was given, from her late doctor, Howard Rossman, was to leave her MS at the doctor’s door and let him worry about the disease while she worried about her family.
“I’ve been lucky because I have definitely been able to do that for the most part,” she said. “For the past 18 years, I have had symptoms. I certainly still have the tingling and the numbness. I don’t think they’ll ever be able to get rid of that, but I would say that the first year was the worst. And I always tell people that.”
Cherrin was introduced to Yoga Moves MS early on after her diagnosis and called it a gift during the early difficult years of dealing with MS.
“I went to this class with a couple of friends, and it just gave me space to breathe and focus on my body and not worry about the MS, and also to feel a part of the community,” she said. “I didn’t know at the time anyone with MS. I don’t have a family history. I didn’t know anyone. So, it was really special to be a part of this community and to have people who know what you’re going through who’ve been through what you’re going through who really care.”
Yoga Moves MS Founder Mindy Eisenberg said Cherrin represents a modern career woman with a family and kids who’s living her life and who is not identified by her MS.
“She’s had a growing career, she’s thriving, she has a beautiful family that she’s been able to be an active role model, mother, parental figure, and I’ve enjoyed working with her,” she said. “I met her when she was first diagnosed, but also just watching her, she took on her career and she’s very sharp, she’s very smart, and she uses her knowledge, and she makes time for people. She really cares about bringing meaning into her life and making the world a better place.”
Eisenberg said it’s important to highlight people in the MS community to inspire others, which is what the Leadership Award is about and why Cherrin was selected.
“I think it’s really important. Somebody gets a new diagnosis, but then they see someone like Marni who’s thriving.. … Wherever she works, she is such a great contributor, whether it’s volunteer work or her career, she makes huge contributions to her communities,” she said.
Even after she became too busy to attend regular classes, Cherrin still was involved in the organization, including helping to plan events. This is something she also does in her professional life, where she plans events and fundraisers to honor others.
“I’ve been on the other side of this for many, many years, for most of my career, and this is definitely a change for me,” she said. “I definitely prefer being on the other side, but anything I can do to help this organization — it’s such a beautiful organization — and Mindy helps so many people. And so I’m honored to be able to do this.”