Day #13. Adam Heller and Tamara Leider met on a cruise in 2003. They recently celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary. A second marriage for both of them, they each came to the marriage with children. Tamara has a beautiful daughter who is doing amazing things half way around the world and Adam has a great son who celebrated his bar mitzvah this year. Adam and Tamara have chosen to have no more children, at least not biological children. They have hundreds of other children they claim yet did not give birth to them.
Adam was raised by parents who were involved in their Temple, volunteered time, treasure and talent to others and became the role models for their children. Tamara was raised by a kind and giving father who traveled continually for work and she grew up living with various relatives until her father returned. The ethic to give back, to give to others, care for others, honor others was instilled at an early age. Tamara and Adam, though brought up worlds apart had very similar values and both shared a burning desire to make a difference. They have made a difference and continue to make a difference, changing the world for the better daily.
Prior to their wedding they both became interested in an orphanage in Mexico (Ebenezer). The facility was floundering and Adam stepped in, along with Tamara, to get the place functioning again. In Mexico, street children are plentiful. Those left on the street will either die or grow up to become prostitutes, petty thieves or worse. When these children are taken off of the street, placed in an orphanage such as Ebenezer, they now have a middle class existence to look forward to. They become educated, are taught the computer (one expense that Heller and Leider pushed) and not only do the lives of the children change but the lives for border guards change. If a person has a way to make a living, put food on the table for their family, they typically will pay taxes and follow the laws. This is what an orphanage provides.
Adam and Tamara began fund raising, they took groups of people to Ebenezer, purchased toilets, paper, computers, beds. They held babies, tried to speak Spanish to toddlers and changed diapers. They did what they saw was needed. Tamara ran a preschool when she lived in Toronto and was able to set up models assuring children began on the right foot. Nutrition and hygiene, the list is endless of all they worked on as they got Ebenezer up and running again. They then helped open a second facility. Heller and Leider then turned the running of both centers over to a third party and looked for where else they could give.
During this time Adam was active in Hospice and Tamara returned to school to get her US certification in early childhood education to pursue her dream of a school for children she could open in Laguna Beach where she now lived. They were busy (and did I mention they also are both life coaches and continued seeing clients) as they watched for other opportunities to make a difference.
Adam was active in The Rotary Club when he heard about a program Rotary supported, Rotoplast (http://www.rotaplast.org/ Rotoplast provides free reconstructive surgery to children, presently in South America. Rotoplast was going to Venezuela and they were looking for volunteers. Adam stepped forward and then convinced Tamara this was the next project. They flew to Venezuela for two weeks and worked every day of the two weeks assisting this noble cause.Adam was in the recovery room soothing the 134 children that came through the operating room and also acting as a sort of liaison with the families anxiously awaiting news.
Tamara had the demanding job of entertaining and preparing the children for major life altering surgery. The couple did not have luxury, they barely had necessities. What they did have was the knowledge they were making a difference.
For many people this would be enough; they gave, they helped, they made a difference. For Adam Heller and Tamara Leider giving is what they do, it is not an option, it is a way of life and they see it as "normal". To stop giving would be much like not breathing. When do you have enough air to breathe? When do you breathe enough?
Tamara is currently working on her website as she prepares her school (tamara@coachheller.com) She coaches individuals and is a woman of deep integrity and passion. Adam has a book he just finished on how to be pain free. He is having remarkable results with his work in the area of pain reversal(adam@rapidlifechange.com) Please email them for what Paul Harvey would call "The rest of the story."
Their Action: Giving is a part of their value system. They do not know how to not give.
They are a remarkable couple making a remarkable difference raising children who are also remarkable. Remarkable.
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