Team

Blue Mountain Center’s Hamilton Helps Project staff include:

Ben Strader
Ben Strader is the Director of Blue Mountain Center, a retreat for writers and artists located in Blue Mountain Lake, New York. He was the founding board President of the Indian Lake Theater, a new life as a community stage and screen for a defunct movie house in central Hamilton County.  Ben was the Secretary of the Blue Mountain Lake Volunteer Fire Department for 20 years, served on the Indian Lake Planning Board for 10 years, and auctioneers regularly for the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts and Raquette Lake Fire Department. He helped with the creation of the Adirondack Nonprofit Network, a group dedicated to supporting Adirondack communities and the non-profit organizations that serve them. He is the proud father to a 19-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old son.

Romy Felder

Romy Felder is a program liaison at Hamilton Helps. Originally from Philadelphia, Mississippi, she has been living in New York state since 2015. She originally moved to Troy, NY to get experience in grassroots economic organizing. Romy is currently a doctoral student at Union Theological Seminary with a focus on social ethics, education, and community development. Romy likes fishing, clear-night skies, and has appreciated getting to know the communities in Hamilton County these past four years!