At the end of January, Options for Independence lost a key member of the Option's team when our programming director, Crystal Purcell, accepted a key position with Congressman Mike Arcuri's office. After nearly seven years of excellent service, Purcell has moved on to become the congressman's regional field representative covering Cayuga and Seneca counties and the city of Geneva.

Originally hired as our Seneca County coordinator in the spring of 2000, Purcell quickly showed her talent for coming up with creative and thoughtful programs for our office in the intervening years. During her tenure at Options, she has helped us expand our annual conferences each year with excellent breakout sessions and interesting speakers. Under Purcell's leadership, Options took advantage of several new programming opportunities.

One of her main focuses was working with the human services community to address the issue of homelessness in our area. A key reason for our community receiving three awards from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for Continuum of Care monies, that have totaled nearly $1 million for Cayuga County, was because of her work and that of others within the Auburn/Cayuga Homeless Task Force.

Joining Options as the new programming director is Tracy Murphy. A native of Waterloo, Murphy holds a bachelor of arts degree in history and government from Columbia College in Columbia, Mo., a master's degree in public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a juris doctor from the Syracuse University College of Law. Although she is a licensed attorney, Murphy is passionate about human services (especially advocating for the rights of the disabled community) and has chosen not to practice law as a profession.

Prior to joining Options, Murphy was a grants procurement specialist for the Syracuse City School District and the director of marketing and development for Rosewood Heights Health Center in Syracuse and the Cayuga/Seneca Community Action Agency in Auburn. She also ran the Northern Regional Center for Independent Living in Watertown, one of Options' sister independent living centers, for a brief period of time.

Options also welcomes Dan Schuster as our new access advocate. Schuster, a native of Auburn, most recently worked as the assistant director of the Downtown Auburn Business Improvement District.

Schuster spent two years at the University of Rochester before transferring to the University of Montana in Missoula, where he graduated with a degree in physics and astronomy and a minor in political science. He also holds a master's degree in public administration from SUNY Brockport.

In addition to his job at Options, Schuster also holds a second title: he is a member of the Cayuga County Legislature, representing District 13 in the City of Auburn. He was elected to a four-year term in 2005. He is currently chair of the county's Planning and Economic Development Committee.

Amanda Derby is the housing advocate at Options for

Independence, located at 75 Genesee St., Auburn. She can be reached at Options at 255-3447