About Us

Each year Options directly affects the lives of more than 1000 adults and children.

Many people come to us in desperate situations. They may be homeless, isolated, or coping with illness. Getting a new start is especially hard in an environment like Long Island, with its automobile-based suburban sprawl and super-high housing costs.

Options is a private non-profit community agency that has been building paths of hope for some of our region's neediest people since 1982. Our mission is to provide both a helping hand and stepping stone toward independent, productive and secure lives.

Stable, secure housing is often the starting point for many of those we serve. We provide quality short or longer term housing and help people find permanent homes. The agency manages more than 140 housing units across Long Island, and owns the majority of these. Homes are situated near public transportation and community resources and are well-maintained.

We also provide intensive, comprehensive support services that help our program participants build better futures and become part of their communities.

Who We Serve

Individuals challenged by severe and persistent mental illness
Homeless families in long-term poverty or crisis situations
Individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS who have very low incomes

Our Mission Statement

Options for Community Living, Inc. is committed to assisting individuals and families with special needs to develop their fullest potential for independent living. Residential and support services prepare participants for the demands and responsibilities of community life and promote housing permanency, health, safety and welfare. Program participants are involved in service planning and make informed choices. The organization’s actions are guided by principles of integrity, openness, accountability, respect for the individual and the highest quality care.

Our Staff

Options is grounded in a culture of constant quality improvement. Results are evaluated on an ongoing basis. Constant progress is the goal. The staff is well-trained, experienced and caring. About 150 people are employed by Options and the majority work directly with program participants as counselors and case managers. The management team averages more than 10 years of experience with Options. Click here to learn more about some of Options' leaders.

Click here to read about leaders

The programs are supported by government funding, but this has not kept pace with the cost of operating quality programs on Long Island. We highly value the support of individual donors, the corporate world and charitable foundations. We welcome volunteers.

We invite you to see the How to Help section for some of the ways you can contribute to Options' critical mission.

How We Measure Success

Options strives to deliver services that are of the highest quality, measurable, and accountable. To read more about our accomplishments, Click Here.

A Brief History of Options

Options was incorporated in 1982. At that time, the need for such an agency had become clear as state psychiatric centers were closing, leaving many people with mental illness homeless and without treatment services in the community.

By 1984, Options opened two community residences certified by the New York State Office of Mental Health. Two years later, Options initiated its Mental Health Supportive Apartment Program, similarly certified. By 1992, the Mental Health Residential Program grew to serve 128 people at six transitional community residences and twenty supportive apartment sites.

In 1990 the agency's focus broadened with a seven site Transitional Housing Program, providing housing and assistance for homeless families through a contract with the Suffolk County Department of Social Services. The number of scattered sites is now twenty-two.

A few years later, Options began addressing the growing needs of Long Islanders living with HIV through a contract with the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute. Case management services are offered through the HIV/AIDS Program established in 1994.

That same year, the agency opened its first supported housing site with support from the New York State Office of Mental Health. Options also received its first of fourteen U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Section 811 Grants in 1994. This program now provides supported housing to well over 100 individuals.

Recognizing the critical need for safe and affordable housing, Options began developing supported housing for people living with HIV/AIDS. The first project, completed in 1997, is one of many completed over the last ten years. Through support of federal and state funds, with a number of projects sponsored by Islip Community Development Agency, United Way of Long Island, and the Nassau/Suffolk Continuum of Care, over 40 units of permanent supported housing for people with HIV/AIDS are owned by Options and operate in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

To accommodate the growing number of Nassau County clients served by the HIV/AIDS Program, Options opened a satellite office in Nassau County in 1996. Options now has the ability to serve 400 individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS on Long Island.

Options has been accredited with commendation by CARF, the Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission, since 2000.

Each year, programs reach over 1,000 adults and children with special needs. Through its housing programs and supportive case management, Options promotes health, safety, housing permanency and independent living.