Ellen Geller Kamaras
“I look at my special education agency as a shlichut, to help our community children grow and succeed and build the right foundation for an amazing future. I didn’t shine as a student and now I have the skills to ensure that our students flourish.” ~ Jaime Chams ~
Please meet Jaime, neé Stavrach, Chams, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She describes herself as a very hard-working, goal-oriented, and a spiritual person.
Jaime is the founder of Always a Step Ahead, an agency that helps community children access special education services that they are entitled to from the NYC Department of Education (DOE). Jaime’s organization assists hundreds of students receive the services they need to thrive including SETSS (Special Education Teacher Support Services), speech, occupational and physical therapy, and counseling.
Jaime’s parents, Anat and Joseph Stavrach, raised their family in Brooklyn where the imbued their children with a love of Torah and mitzvot. They especially were committed to hesed and community service, and ran Aishel Shabbat, an organization that they helped create. (Aishel Shabbat currently provides nutritious, quality Shabbat meals for nearly 250 families).
Jaime is the second of four children, two boys and two girls. Jaime grew up in a home that always focused on being there and giving to others, as well as caring about those in need.
Jaime is warm and very easy to chat with. She has been a super friendly person since childhood and connects easily with people.
After graduating Ateret Torah High School, Jaime’s next step academically was enrolling in Training and Testing International (TTI) for a bachelor’s and master’s degree in special education. TTI partners with nationally and regionally accredited universities bringing higher education to the frum community in a controlled, Torah-based environment.
Always a Step Ahead
Created in 2010, Jaime’s goal was to grow in the field of special education services and ensure all our students stay Always a Step Ahead.
Jaime was working for another agency at the time, and realized that our community needed someone who could offer more care and concern specifically geared to our community. She wanted her agency to be more individualized rather than factory style. She approached many different community schools, and saw there was a great need. Baruch Hashem, many doors opened for her.
In addition to helping children obtain eligible services from the DOE, Jaime and her staff hire and pay providers and manage the funding while awaiting reimbursement and additional funding. They take care of everything involved in the service procurement and administration from beginning to end.
Parent involvement in the process, especially in court appeal cases, is crucial. Jaime emphasizes that parents must feel passionate that their child is entitled to the services so that they become a meaningful partner in the funding process. Jaime used to have her team take care of everything with minimal parent involvement, but over the years she realized that more parent input is needed and so the agency created a team to focus on this.
Passions
Jaime is on fire about helping and advocating for kids to be placed into the right schools.
There are children who are sent out of school or are not accepted or are excluded by other kids or are bullied silently.
On a personal level, Jaime is proud that she can support her family while her husband learns in kollel – “That is huge for me.” She works from home, and stresses that she would not have it any other way. Her job keeps her very busy, but she manages to pull dinner together or do homework with the kids in between emails and meetings. Family is very important to Jaime, and she puts great emphasis on spending time with her loved ones.
The best reward for Jaime is hearing from parents that the support her agency gives enables their children to succeed. “It is so worthwhile when a parent calls and thanks me for being a partner in their child’s success.”
Mentors and Role Models
Jaime frequently asks her rabbis and mentors questions about work and how to proceed. She also reaches out for chinuch guidance and how to balance work and home life.
Her secret to success? “Prayers and lots of advice and berachot from rabbis who guide me every step of the way.”
Balance
Jamie has gotten better at achieving work-life balance. While building her agency and ensuring its core is the personal connection, she established close relationships with the parents her agency serves. Most parents treat her as a best friend and associate the services they receive directly with her and not just with the agency.
For the first twelve years of her business, Jaime refused to get assistance aside from her husband pitching in on lunch breaks or at night, or someone occasionally working on the billing. Jaime realized that doing everything herself was taking a toll on her and on her family and that she needed help. The agency now has a team of secretaries working remotely and a communications team that works closely to inform parents of the process as it proceeds.
She is now a big advocate of asking for help!
Community and Hesed
Jaime adores her community, “Its members feel so strongly about giving back and investing in it. We are so solid. There is no community quite like us anywhere!”
Working with students across the community has taught Jaime a lot about acceptance and being non-judgmental.
She learned about the importance of hesed at a young age from her parents. “I grew up with tons of hesed in the home. My parents taught us to always give, and my biggest prayer and blessing to all is to always remain on the giving end, because there is nothing as special as being able to give.”
Jaime enjoys reading and going to shiurim when she can.
Closing Tips
Pray and ask for spiritual advice. Finding the right mentor or rabbi who you trust and guide you can help you gain clarity. Try to find someone from the community in your related business or profession who can serve as a mentor to you.
“Many agencies or private providers call me for assistance when needed, and I love to help when I can. I also call them when I need advice. If you realize that parnassa is from Hashem, you will be happy to help others grow and [you] will only succeed.”
You can reach Jaime at p3center@yahoo.com.Ellen Geller Kamaras, CPA/MBA, is an International Coach Federation (ICF) Associate Certified Coach. Her coaching specialties include life, career, and dating coaching. Ellen can be contacted at ellen.kamaras@gmail.com (www.lifecoachellen.com).