Lisa Stein

A gymnast in college at SUNY Binghamton, Lisa Stein taught gymnastics in her coach's classes for kids. Kicked out of the school's elementary-ed program because of her alternative ideas, Stein took a humanities degree instead and moved to Boston to teach gymnastics. "I took any job I could find," she says. "I trolleyed all over town." On a trip to the West Coast in 1979, she met Hoedads treeplanters in Eugene. "I came back in the fall and joined Hoedads," she says. "I planted trees for three years, from November to June." She raised two sons as a single mom in a cabin near Elmirafor ten years , gardening and bringing in the firewood. "I taught gymnastics in Veneta for a couple of years," says Stein, who also got her license and began work in massage therapy. Since she moved back to Eugene nine years ago, Stein has worked in mediation and co-counseling. For seven years, she's been involved in the Heart of Now, a monthly three-day workshop promoting personal growth. "It's a loving space," she says. "People feel safe to open up and learn about themselves." Learn more at heartofnow.org.