Get to Know Our Team at Options for Senior Living
Scott M. Fischer, BSN, CDP, CPRS
President & Founder
Scott M. Fischer earned his Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Arizona State University in 1986. He has had a variety of healthcare and business experiences over the past 30+ years. His career has been dedicated to the health care industries, working for years in nursing administration, nursing education, mental health, and home health nursing. Since 2000, his sole focus has been on the care and service of seniors, particularly in the area of senior mental health, with a special emphasis on seniors suffering from dementia.
He has been a leader in developing and implementing a code of ethics and standards of best practice for the non-regulated senior living referral industry in Arizona. He is the Past President and Co-founder of the Professional Association of Senior Referral Specialists (PASRS), a group dedicated to these causes.
That passion has now expanded to a national platform with the formation of the National Placement and Referral Alliance (NPRA), established in 2017, to address many of the same issues nationwide. His role includes developing local chapters for the NPRA, with chapters now established in multiple markets outside of Phoenix, and creating the only industry-specific certification program in the nation for referral and placement specialists (CPRS).
His company, Options for Senior Living, was founded in 2003 to provide professional consultation and guidance services to families and professionals seeking assisted living and long-term care services for seniors. He has served over 4500 families in the past 23+ years, many of whom have had a loved one suffer from some form of dementia.
In 2021, Scott co-founded Senior Resource Connectors (SRC) with a colleague he had initially helped with resources for his mother in California, and later, when she moved to Arizona during the pandemic. He was overwhelmed by the number of choices, responsibilities, and his mother’s complex needs. After that, they formed Senior Resource Connectors together. SRC provides education, outreach, and resources primarily to the adult children of parents navigating the challenges of aging.
As a former educator with the Maricopa County Community Colleges, he continues his passion for teaching by speaking for the Desert Southwest Chapter of the Arizona Alzheimer’s Association, PASRS, and the Arizona Fiduciaries Association. He has presented at the national conference of the National Guardians Association. Additionally, he was the former co-host of a radio program called Planning Past 50, which addressed various life issues, including healthcare and financial planning for individuals in their 50s and older.
He has been featured on other local radio shows, speaking on various issues affecting seniors and older adults. He is a featured contributor to the book ‘Aging in Arizona,’ released in 2018. In 2016, Scott was invited to join the prestigious Health Care Committee at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. This group is developing a comprehensive, statewide approach to address the most pressing issues facing Arizona’s aging population. He has been an avid reader and loves music and baseball, growing up in Ohio as a Cincinnati Reds fan and an Arizona Diamondbacks season ticket holder since 2002. Scott and his wife, Stacey, have been married since 2015. They have six children and three grandchildren; Scott’s children are married. Scott and Stacey reside in the East Valley, where they make their home and spend time with their family.
Scott has dedicated over 13 years to the unlicensed and largely unregulated placement and referral services industry, working to establish industry best practices, a national certification program, and trade association representation. Scott’s personal mission has been to leave the world better than the way he found it, and he is far from done.
Stacey Fischer, CDP
Director of Business Development
Stacey Fischer, CDP, began her career in the senior living industry in 2009. She has dedicated over a decade of her life to helping enrich the lives of seniors and their families. Her compassion and willingness to be a resource for the elderly led her to begin hospice care. She advanced in this field and led the intake department, paving the way for her career to evolve into a senior advocate role.
In 2015, she married Scott Fischer, owner of Options for Senior Living, and the former President of PASRS, the local industry trade association he co-founded. She became a Referral Specialist and continued to assist families and seniors with finding the perfect home while working at Options for Senior Living.
She later decided to call Surpass Senior Living home in 2018, where she continued serving seniors and their families in a new way for three years.
She later moved into a Regional Sales Director role, which allowed her to gain insight into the operations of senior living communities across different states. She loved those years of seeing her families every day.
Her passion is to help. Her compassion and leadership inspire her in everything that she does. Her greatest asset is to create meaningful and trusted relationships.
Leah Weber,
Family Advocate
East and Central Valley
Leah is filled to the brim with a calm, positive energy that immediately puts others at ease. She loves helping people and being an outlet for those in need. What she loves most about being a Family Advocate is that no two days are the same. The pace is quick, and the opportunity to meet and connect with seniors and their families fuels her daily.
Leah’s experience with people and her natural ability to guide others with compassion set her up for this career path. Her commitment to learning, serving and helping sets her apart and makes her an invaluable part of team Options for Senior Living.
Amanda Mathews, CDP
Placement Agent
West Valley
Amanda is organized, manages her time effectively, and loves working with seniors. After working in Senior Living for 10 years, Amanda managed and trained a large team of consultants.
What she loves most about being a certified placement expert is that no two days are the same. The pace is quick, and the opportunity to meet with and connect to others fuels her daily.
Amanda believes this career path chose her. After spending many years in the senior living industry, her love and passion for serving seniors deepened. Her motto is always to treat others the way you would like to be treated.
Molly Davis,
Family Advocate
Molly comes from an early childhood development background and spent the last couple of years teaching and developing young minds.
She has always loved working with people, and thrives in an environment where she can be of service to others.
Berdene van der Spuy,
Content Manager
Berdene hails from sunny South Africa and has been a remote member of the Options for Senior Living team since mid-2021.
Berdene began her career in digital marketing for retail, honing her skills by working for some of South Africa’s largest e-commerce companies. After eight years in a more traditional corporate environment, Berdene decided to switch from product marketing to a cause more aligned with her personal values – service marketing.
Options for Senior Living presented the perfect opportunity to focus her marketing experience on improving the lives of others rather than promoting products.
She enjoys long-distance running and listening to ‘whodunnit’ podcasts in her free time. Berdene’s mission is to improve the marketing practices employed by the senior industry at large, and to ensure that relevant information is available to seniors and their families in crisis.