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Meet a Do-Gooder: Amy Schwartzbard
Family crisis leads to stepping up to serve others
A year ago, Amy Schwartzbard's 14-year-old daughter was in trouble: She was failing out of high school and making what her mom calls "non-working choices." So Amy sent her daughter to a special school for kids in crisis run by Premier Educational Systems. As part of the program, Mom was required to take seminars too. She was so inspired by the changes in her daughter, her family, and herself that she embarked on a new career. Now she is dedicated to making the resources that helped her family available to people in economically strapped communities — starting with the Ninth Ward in New Orleans.
So your daughter was in crisis. Why did you end up going to classes too?
The Premier schools don't believe that the child ended up in this situation by herself. It's not about blame, but about all of us as a family making choices that result in our child ending up in a school like this. If you want the best possible result when your kid comes back, changes need to be made as a family.
But you didn't stop with your own family.
I've been going through leadership training with the schools' sister company, Resource Realizations, since March of last year. Four or five months before the training, I had closed the boutique I had run for 14 or 15 years. I used to sell high-end furniture and bedding, beautiful things, but my life was more money driven. That's just not where I wanted to be. I found a commitment to living life with joy and being of service to others.
How did you get involved with Katrina survivors in New Orleans?
With each training, they ask [the students] as a group to do a community service project. During September 2007, 34 of us formed LEEP (Leaders in Education, Empowerment, and Purpose), a nonprofit organization to help residents in the Ninth Ward in New Orleans.
So your daughter was in crisis. Why did you end up going to classes too?
The Premier schools don't believe that the child ended up in this situation by herself. It's not about blame, but about all of us as a family making choices that result in our child ending up in a school like this. If you want the best possible result when your kid comes back, changes need to be made as a family.
But you didn't stop with your own family.
I've been going through leadership training with the schools' sister company, Resource Realizations, since March of last year. Four or five months before the training, I had closed the boutique I had run for 14 or 15 years. I used to sell high-end furniture and bedding, beautiful things, but my life was more money driven. That's just not where I wanted to be. I found a commitment to living life with joy and being of service to others.
How did you get involved with Katrina survivors in New Orleans?
With each training, they ask [the students] as a group to do a community service project. During September 2007, 34 of us formed LEEP (Leaders in Education, Empowerment, and Purpose), a nonprofit organization to help residents in the Ninth Ward in New Orleans.
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