Opening Doors For Long Islanders Since 1982
I had the opportunity to sit down with Yolanda Robano-Gross LMSW, MHA, Chief Executive Officer of Options for Community Living, Inc. (Options) located in Long Island, NY. Yolanda joined Options as Chief Executive Officer in 2014 with more than twenty years of prior executive-level experience within the health care industry. She is responsible for oversight of all agency affairs and reports to the Board of Directors. Responsibilities include fiscal management of an annual budget of over $24 million, personnel management, program development, and fundraising. She earned her Master’s in Health Care Administration from Hofstra University, Master’s in Social Work from Yeshiva University, and her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from Marist College. She holds a certificate in Executive Education, Non-Profit Leadership from The Fordham Center for Non-Profit Leaders.
Yolanda is quite an impressive lady who is passionate about her work and the people they serve at Options. “In my role of CEO, I am responsible for overall operations of the organization. With a budget of $25 million, Options employs over 200 people, serves more than 2,200 vulnerable individuals/families annually, and utilizes 150+ properties many of which we own. Options helps individuals and families who are living with chronic physical and mental illnesses including those who are HIV+/living with AIDS. Options also helps individuals who are experiencing homelessness/inappropriately housed. Most of our clients have very low incomes and receive Medicaid benefits.”
The organization offers many services to those who are in need. “Yes, we do, and individuals can enroll in many ways depending on which service they need. They can contact us directly and our centralized intake team will assist them in finding which programs they qualify for. Some other paths are to go through the NYS SPA (single point of access) division for programs through the office of mental health. They can also access the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless for services connected to homelessness. We offer Housing for the following groups: those in recovery from mental illness, homeless individuals and families who are HIV+/living with AIDS or have other disabilities. Options provides Care Coordination and Case Management services to engage people with chronic health conditions in healthcare. We help people access financial entitlements and link them to resources and other support services (food pantries, social groups, legal advocacy, vocational training etc.). We continue to grow our services with Options answers “Request for Proposals” or “RFP’s” that are sent out by various government and private agencies. These proposals are written to fill a need by a particular population in a geographic region. We also receive donations from private foundations, most recently Bank of America, TD Bank, and Newsday. These donations and those of businesses and individuals in the community allow us to increase the scope of our work and the number of people we can serve.”
What is the process like once someone or a family is selected for your services? “The first step is to meet with our central intake team where they learn about our compliment of services. Our team will help the applicant determine program eligibility. If eligible for housing or services, the intake team makes the soft hand off to the team member who will follow them through the introductory process. If they are not eligible for any of our services, we work with colleagues to help find other services in the community.” And now let’s talk about health insurance. “Not everyone has insurance, but our team can help with that. Through alliances with the NYS Department of Social Services, our staff can assist individuals with applying for Medicaid. We also have certain programs that provide services to undocumented individuals.”
Unfortunately, there is such a stigma around mental health, illnesses and even the verbiage used in describing those with those type of challenges. “The pandemic reminded us of just how fragile life is. In the blink of an eye, things can change affecting our friends, our families, and ourselves. While there has been more open conversation about mental illness and focus on wellness, more progress is needed. I always say we need to change the face of mental health, AIDS, homelessness, and so many other issues that affect our neighbors! It’s 2023 and people still have stereotypical images in their heads. While that is A face of these populations, it is not THE face. Our individuals look like you and me. They have families, and friends, and educations, etc. Often there’s no detecting them in a crowd. I once had a student say to me “It’s like they hide in plain sight,” and that’s very true. I think that if people keep the statistics in mind (More than 1 in 5 US adults live with a mental illness) and apply it to their own street, they might just rethink the stigma and let it go.”
Options is doing so much great work and is so important for individuals and businesses to support they work that you do. “Thank you and yes, the work that we do is essential to help vulnerable individuals on Long Island live with dignity in the community. While most of our programs receive government funding, not all expenses are covered. Private support is essential to continuing our work. A great example of this is the grants received this year to help maintain our affordable supportive housing program. Grants from the TD Charitable Foundation, Bethpage Federal Credit Union, and Newsday Charities will help maintain homes that have served formerly homeless families for over 20 years. These homes need maintenance, just like my own home does. Without private support we simply can’t maintain these homes. Other agencies have given up properties because they can’t safely continue to operate them. That is a last resort we haven’t had to face yet, thankfully. Most importantly, our housing programs are impactful. They have great outcomes. Once in affordable housing with support, people stay put. Consistently we find that more than 90% of our residents either maintain their housing or move on to similar or greater independence. They seek education or vocational training and employment. Their children have opportunity and the cycle of homelessness ends. That’s a win win —particularly when you keep in mind that when the need for housing isn’t met, people cycle in and out of homelessness, jails, shelters, and hospitals. Furthermore, our programs alone support more than 700 people in housing and many more through our case management and care coordination programs. Our mission to help people live independently can be challenging, but it is important, impactful, and rewarding. Our work changes lives. Why should anyone support us? That’s why.
Options has been around for many years and has such wonderful support from collaborations, donorship, and agencies that enhances your services and supports others. “Yes, and we’re grateful for each one of them. Options partners with many agencies in our local community. We are partners and have agreements with United Way of Long Island, Northwell Health, The Association for Community Living, The Office of Mental Health, The AIDS Institute, and the Department of Health. In terms of direct services, we work closely with our nonprofit partners, hospitals, and clinics to ensure our program participants get the services they need. Through our work with the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless and the Long Island Continuum of Care, public offices like the Department of Social Services and multiple local not for profit human service organizations work together to best meet the needs of Long Islanders struggling with homelessness. Together, this group brings millions of federal dollars to Long Island to fund housing programs including some of ours.”
With all the programs and services that Options offers, you have two positive outcomes that you like to reference that was for an individual and for a family. “Yes, we had a family of three referred to our housing. The family (a mom, a teenage daughter with autism, and a teenage son) had been in a shelter for 5 years. When they moved into one of our apartments, the son was taken aback by the fact that he had his own bedroom with a door (“I can shut it when I want to?”), and his own key (“Really, we can lock the door?”). A key and a door are things we all take for granted, but for this young man they represented privacy, independence, and the type of life he hadn’t had before. The other was a gentleman who calls me every year on the anniversary of his sobriety to thank me. He thanks me for his supportive case manager, for the work that we do, and most importantly, for his home because without a roof over his head, he says that he never would’ve been able to get sober and maintain his sobriety. At Options we say that Housing IS Health Care and it’s very true.”
Every organization can always use additional volunteer support. “Absolutely! There are so many ways that volunteers can help and make a difference. You can volunteer, we have a great thrift shop at 392 Hawkins Ave, Lake Ronkonkoma. Do you teach yoga? Are you a beautician? A painter? Share your gifts with our clients and our staff. You can come and work with us! We are always looking for good people who are passionate about social services. Send your resume to Michelle Smalley at msmalley@optionscl.org. I am also looking for a few more board members, so if anything, I’ve said appeals to you, call me at 631-361-9020, ext. 1101 and let’s talk! Attend one of our events! We have a paint night coming up in October (date TBA) and on April 13, 2024, we’ll be at Mulcahy’s in Wantagh for our 2nd annual Murder Mystery Fundraiser. The theme of the night is Murder at the 80’s Rock Concert. And of course, you can always donate. Donations help our individuals and families in so many ways!
Options is committed to providing high quality housing and services for vulnerable Long Islanders. Our well-trained staff provide timely person-centered services in an effective and compassionate manner. CARF Accreditation speaks to our commitment to quality.
If you would like to learn more about Options, please visit www.optionscl.org https://www.facebook.com/Options4CL
https://www.facebook.com/OCLThriftShop
Instagram – @options4cl and @oclthriftshop
