Murphy oversees the Dallas-Market Center Candlewood Suites and the San Antonio Candlewood Suites as regional manager for Windsor Residential Companies. 

Over the last year and a half, Murphy helped form the Stemmons Corridor Hotel/Motel Crime Watch and serves as its chairperson. She was instrumental in developing a 70-page crime resource manual for hotels and a crime alert fax network of more than 40 businesses. Both can be adapted for other cities. 
�Lawana has an unusual knack for working with the police,� says Sergeant Mark Neby of the Northwest Crime Prevention Unit. Neby supervises the community policing officers that work with Murphy. �She has done more good things and been more effective than almost anyone.� 

Murphy has faxed more than 200 crime alerts in a year and a half, ranging from reporting stolen cars to credit card fraud. She�s even helped police track down a criminal or two. 

�Lawana�s extraordinary commitment to her community and to business travelers to the area is a great example for all of us,� says Candlewood President and Chief Operating Officer Jim Roos. �We couldn�t be more proud of her.� 

�This is my way of making a difference,� says Murphy, a former general manager at the Dallas-Market Center property, chairperson for the local business association�s public safety committee, and a Texas Hotel Association board member. �I love teamwork and Candlewood is all about teamwork,� she adds. 
Murphy had developed a similar crime reference manual when she lived in Austin, Texas. In Dallas, community police officers approached her about expanding their efforts in the Stemmons Corridor, a major business district along Interstate 35. 
Together, they helped adapt the manual for Dallas. It includes local telephone numbers, forms and information regarding what police need for particular crimes. The manual also lists priorities for different crimes, so hotel employees can give guests appropriate police response times. Perhaps just as importantly, it lists boundaries for involvement. Murphy also helps organize monthly meetings where a police officer addresses crime prevention issues.

�Simply put, Lawana cares about her community, her guests, coworkers and peers,� says Lynda Fisher, Windsor senior vice president and a colleague of Lawana�s for eight years. �She is passionate about her civic responsibilities.�

The Dallas-Market Candlewood Suites is located at 7930 N. Stemmons Freeway in Dallas. The San Antonio Candlewood Suites is located at 9350 Interstate 10 West in San Antonio. Candlewood Hotel Co. (Nasdaq:CNDL - news) owns, operates and franchises Candlewood Suites, which targets mid-market business travelers and others on short- or long-term stays. There are currently 86 Candlewood Suites open coast-to-coast, with more under construction.