icon Blueprint for October

Building Trust for the Tough Road Ahead

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3 min read

This month in Tax Credit Advisor, we’re taking a look at resident services. “Two weeks to flatten the curve” has turned into 84 weeks, or a year-and-a-half. After a summer of optimism thanks to vaccines and falling COVID-19 cases and deaths, the virus came roaring back.

It’s become increasingly clear that the COVID-19 pandemic is evolving into an endemic disease. The virus continues to mutate into the delta variant, the mu variant and we’ll all surely learn the next few letters of the Greek alphabet in the coming months, if not years.

Resident services had to change quickly in the early days of the pandemic in 2020. In-person services were paused, on-site inspections stopped and every property manager in the country tried to figure out how to keep things running reasonably well during an emergency that none of us has ever lived through.

And they did a great job. As unemployment skyrocketed in the height of the pandemic, property and resident services managers moved heaven and earth to make sure their communities had enough to eat and access to health services. There were food drives and COVID-19 testing, and, more recently, mass vaccination events and get-out-the-vote efforts.

After 18 months of sprinting to keep everything running as smoothly as possible, the sprint is turning into a marathon. Looking back at what has worked and what hasn’t during the pandemic, a clearer picture is emerging of what changes will become long-term and, like the virus, endemic to how communities are operated.

Not surprisingly, leaders in resident services tell Tax Credit Advisor that some of the new online services are here to stay. Thanks to remote learning and remote working, access to broadband internet has taken its place as a standard amenity in new developments.

The pandemic also exacerbated existing food insecurity for many families. Resident services managers arranged to bring food to their residents, and many intend to continue to help by partnering with food support partners in their community.

One of the biggest services for residents has been offering help applying for unemployment benefits and emergency rental assistance. As reported in our September issue, property managers and owners have worked tirelessly to connect residents behind on rent with federal and state rental assistance programs.

It’s been a hard road for everyone during the pandemic, and the new normal we’re experiencing is anything but normal. And it’s likely to continue to be a tough road ahead as winter approaches and health experts expect the COVID-19 numbers to continue to rise. Working together to support each other will be more important than ever before.

If there’s one positive to get us through the next few months, it might be what Trevor Samios, vice president of resident services and customer experience at WinnCompanies, told one of our writers. “There is an increase in trusting relationships with staff and residents,” says Samios. “People look at us as a landlord and property manager in a different way. We are now a resource for a broad variety of supports.”

Paul Connolly
Executive Editor

Tax Credit Advisor welcomes reader comments. Contact the executive editor at [email protected].