Stephanie Altman taught special education at Roslyn High School for more than 20 years before a stroke in 2011 forced her out of the classroom and into expensive treatment programs aimed at helping her regain the ability to speak.

Now, as the Roslyn Estates resident and her husband Frank approach their 50th wedding anniversary on May 22, a group of friends and neighbors is looking to help. 

“Steffi has what we all want – happiness. She has a smile on her face every second of the day,” said Mary Jo White, a senior vice president at Morgan Stanley who is helping to organize a May 14 fundraiser for Altman at Jewel Restaurant in Melville. “We all give to charities where you don’t know where the money goes, With this, we know where it goes.”

Participating sponsors include nuBest Salon and Spa and its sister company, Viral Clothing, Ambalu Jewelers and Post Liquors in Syosset, as well as restaurateur Tom Schaudel, who owns Jewel Restaurant, and Morgan Stanley. 

The goal is to raise $50,000 so Altman can attend facilities at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago for the treatment of Expressive Aphasia, an acquired language disorder that complicates one’s ability to communicate.

Though Altman’s therapy was initially postponed due to heart problems, she soon began making progress through clinical trials at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset.

She currently undergoes about five to seven hours of treatment a day at the Speech & Hearing Center at LIU Post as well as at STARS Rehabilitation in East Meadow. 

“We’ve got to give her the best shot,” Frank Altman said. “Will she come out speaking Shakespearian? I don’t know, but we’re pulling out all the stops to make this work. This is what it’s all about for us.”

Tickets are $125, $75 of which is tax deductible, White said. The fundraiser is set to include dinner, live music, an auction and fashion show.

“It would be coming full circle,” said White, who added she was also inspired to help organize the fundraiser in memory of her father, who died of a stroke last June. “This is helping a woman that’s helped the community. She’s done so much for the community.”