On Sept. 12, Options for Independence held its annual meeting and awards luncheon at the Springside Inn. Options presented awards to community members for their dedication to Options and the disability community. Awards were presented in three categories: Advocates of the Year, Community Service Awards and Volunteers of the Year Awards.

The first awards presented were the Giannettino Pethybridge-Bower Advocate of the Year Award, named for three strong advocates who envisioned Options for Independence, long before there was an Options for Independence. They saw the need for a strong group of people with disabilities to get together to advocate for independent living, led by people with disabilities.

Humbly accepting the first award for Advocate of the Year was Assemblyman Gary D. Finch (R-Springport) who has been a strong advocate for individuals with disabilities. Last year, he presented a check us for our community's efforts to address the growing problem of homelessness by funding our Sundry Kit Program to address the issue of hygiene.

He has supported legislation such as the Housing Wait List Bill that would give the state an accurate picture of mental health housing and voted to make it illegal to place people with psychiatric disabilities in Supportive Housing Units in the state's corrections system. He also supports getting rid of the Full Face Ballot that makes implementing the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) more difficult for New York state.

But more importantly, he has also shown leadership by breaking with his party on occasion in the New York State Legislature to support legislation that is vital to the disability community. For example we have been fighting for some time for Timothy's Law, which would provide health and mental health insurance parity to those who are insured. This was something that the business community and insurance companies fought. He took a stand early on to support those in crisis and need and supported Timothy's Law early on, at the risk of his standing with the business community. He stuck with supporters of this proposal, until even his own party saw the light and joined him in supporting a law that former Gov. George E. Pataki signed into law before leaving office on Dec. 31.

We presented our second Advocate of the Year Award to the city's Director of Planning and Economic Development Jennifer Haines for her work as an advocate extraordinaire. As the director of the City's Community Development Block Grant Program, Haines worked with Options not only to expand our Home Access Program with her office but to design a program as a model for other programs. With her guidance, Options applied for and was awarded funds for both our Access to Home Program and Community Renewal and our new Home Access and Rehabilitation Program (HARP) we have kicked off with our fellow not for profit, Homsite and the Cayuga County's Department of Planning.

Haines brought divergent organizations together to file for Cayuga County's first Continuum of Care application. With a team that included our former programming director, Crystal Purcell; Barbara Bowen of the Cayuga County Human Services Coalition; Liz Werner of Unity House, and several individuals from the Cayuga Seneca Community Action Agency, they put such a great package together that Cayuga County was awarded close to half a million dollars the first time out. Overall, Haines' “can do-it” attitude has resulted in two more consecutive awards of funding to Cayuga County bringing in more than $1 million.

Both Finch and Haines deserve recognition for their hard work and support for individuals with disabilities. Options is sure their continued support and dedication for advocacy will continue in the community.

Amanda Derby is the housing advocate for Options for Independence.