By Deb Silverthorn 

Just as Superman watches out for others, dons his magnificent cape and saves the people of the world, Dallas’ Adam Lampert watches and, with an invisible cape, swoops in and does his best. On Friday, Feb. 25, in true Clark Kent style, Lampert was not once — not twice — but three times a hero to women stranded on icy roads due to inclement weather.

It was early morning when Lampert, the CEO of Manchester Place Care Homes and Cambridge Caregivers, became a caregiver of another sort. Knowing many of his employees are not used to navigating icy roads, he decided to help some of his caregivers get to or from work. Driving north on Hillcrest, between Northaven and Forest Lane, he saw a car stuck on the median, then another couple of disabled vehicles.

He made a U-turn and returned to one of the cars. It turns out the driver was a caregiver, not for his agency, but someone on the way to work. Lampert moved the woman’s vehicle and then delivered her safely to her job. 

He returned to the same area and found another woman unable to maneuver her car.

“Literally, in the same spot and she had been stranded on the ice for more than 30 minutes,” said Lampert, who moved her car to safety and offered her a ride. “Once she got in my car, our meeting turned out to be an incredible coincidence.”

That woman was Ade Sheppard, who had just finished an overnight shift with a patient and had considered calling Uber for a ride to avoid driving herself. The app failed and she decided to test fate, waiting with the most unexpected response.  

“Oh thank you God, my car was turning wobbly when I saw this gentleman coming toward me. I was just coming from work at Cambridge, and he told me he was the owner of Cambridge and I thought ‘wow, thank you so much.’”

Lampert has led the team at Cambridge Caregivers for many years. While his employees are of utmost importance to him, because of the pandemic he hasn’t met them face-to-face; many people were hired during the pandemic and Sheppard was one of them.

“I will never forget this day, never ever,” said Sheppard, who, originally from Nigeria, never learned to drive in the bad weather. “God bless Mr. Adam and may the good Lord continue to shower him with His blessings. For a stranger to come to me and render help, amazing — I will never forget that day.”

Lampert took Sheppard home and returned to the area, now making his own way home, when at the same intersection he found another car with its owner, who was another caregiver in distress. 

“I couldn’t believe there was another woman, crying in the cold because she was stuck,” said Lampert. “She works overnight in a hospital ER and was on her way home; she couldn’t make it through the ice.”

Lampert took that woman home too, nearly eight mostly treacherous miles, returning his third charge safely.

“These women were coming or going to work to help others — it’s what they’re dedicated to whether the sun is out or not,” said Lampert. “They just go. Most of our essential caregivers don’t, won’t and can’t stay home. They are responsible for lives, they can’t afford to lose their income and they are just meant to go and care no matter what.”

That Lampert would care for others comes as no surprise to his loved ones.

“He is his father; it’s all from my husband,” said Lampert’s mother Judy, crediting her husband Morris, of blessed memory, for her son’s gallant behavior. “He’s been this way always, forever giving and acting like a mensch. As a little kid, when my parents came to visit, he helped my Dad as we were walking into a restaurant. A stranger tapped me on the shoulder and said they’d never seen a child act so kind. Kind — that’s Adam.”

Lampert, a San Antonio native, is a graduate of Robert E. Lee High School, now renamed Legacy of Educational Excellence High School. He was raised at Congregation Rodfei Sholom and was a member of BBYO. A graduate of the University of Texas’ McCombs School of Business, he then earned his MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

He has been married for 31 years to his wife Jill; the couple are parents of Casey, Abery and Micah, and the family are longtime members of Temple Emanu-El. Lampert is a former president of Dallas’ AJC council, now serving on its national board, and has long been involved in efforts, including working with Steve Berger to secure a playground, on behalf of the Jill Stone Elementary School at Vickery Meadow.

“The nicest man ever — ever,” said Lampert’s wife. “Acts like helping these women are perfect examples of what he does and how he lives, not necessarily the ‘emergent moments’ but it’s how he thinks of others all the time.”

Echoing the love and kavod, honor, for Lampert is Stephanie Rosuck, who has known her “baby brother” all his life to be thoughtful; she also sees him regularly act in the professional realm, as she is responsible for business development and community outreach at Cambridge Caregivers and Manchester Place Care Homes.

“It doesn’t surprise me for a minute that Adam would stop to help someone, anyone, in any circumstance,” she said. “People ask all the time what makes Cambridge Caregivers different. This is what makes us different. He is extraordinary and I’m so proud to be his sister.”

In recent weeks when gas prices have soared, he has, personally, added $25 a week to each of his employees’ paychecks to help defray the costs. He sponsors employee appreciation meals and provides interest-free loans to employees needing to purchase a car or to help themselves or their children with the cost of higher education. “No” and “I can’t” are words foreign to his vocabulary.

“Our employees are the force and backbone of our company and when people reflect on their experiences of our people it is always about the ‘touch’ our employees have,” said Lampert. “We, as leadership, will be behind them no matter what.”

Lampert will support his employees, including being at their side in the zero-degree storms; he’ll help anyone he comes upon, wherever he is needed.