Mike and Elaine Adler, two successful entrepreneurs and community activists, founded the Adler Aphasia Center in 2003 located in Maywood, NJ. Ten years earlier, Mike had suffered a stroke after bypass surgery. The stroke left Mike with aphasia. Elaine's life changed as well. She felt frustrated, confused and helpless as she tried to put their changed lives back together. Although there were many hospital-based speech pathology services in the area that could help Mike with his aphasia, the Adlers found no program that could help him adjust to living with aphasia. The Adlers researched speech pathology clinics around the world and uncovered several unique programs where people touched by aphasia were learning new ways to communicate.