Think back to your freshman year of college. You met many new faces and your life suddenly opened up to dozens of activities and services. Maybe you didn’t know your way around campus or what was required of you to succeed. In comes your trusty Resident Assistant! RAs were the ones to help smooth over this transition, by helping new tenants adapt to their new independence.
Here at Moore Place, six tenants have completed the 2-week Resident Assistant training to enter this new role. They were excited to receive the job of welcoming our Neighbors to their new home. RAs have been trained to give thorough orientations to new tenants and volunteers. They serve as a role model for their floor, give tenant access to the community kitchen, distribute materials for staff, participate in speaking engagements, and help plan and manage tenant events.
The Super Bowl Party was a hit with tenants! (click photo for more pics from the party on Facebook)
For Super Bowl Sunday, the RAs decorated the room in football confetti and helped to make commercial rating cards. They revved up tenants on their hall, by reminding passerbys about the annual party. With the personal invite from their peers, we’ve received our largest turnout of 48 tenants! A good majority even stayed after the food disappeared! The party continued past halftime with RA supervision, allowing me to go home in time to prepare for an epic episode of “This Is Us”.
Kenny Dill (RA), loves this added responsibility. He prides himself in being a “super volunteer”. After a knee injury that put a halt to his volunteer work for Second Harvest Food Bank, he was looking for another way to give back to the community. “My favorite part about being an RA is helping out the staff. It really gives you a purpose and makes you feel important!”
Tabby Burns enjoys her new role as an RA at Moore Place
Tabby Burns (RA) has lived in Moore Place since its inception. While showing her apartment filled with character and well-kept plants to a new volunteer, she explains how she takes great pride in her apartment and this new role. Taped to her walls are all of her certificates from RA trainings. The classes included “Understanding Your Lease”, “How to be a Good Neighbor”, “Diversity 101”, and “RA Responsibilities”. She’s never missed a monthly RA meeting, run by supervisors from Tenant Services (Ashley Brown), Social Work (Jennifer Dula), and Property Management (Tanista Dendy).
This new partnership between our tenant leaders and staff has helped spur conversations about tenant events, building needs, and emergency procedures. Tabby feels “that the meetings are very beneficial. It keeps you updated on everything going on. As a tenant, sometimes we don’t see the work that all of the staff does. So, it’s nice that I get the chance to share my opinion and help work out any kinks”.
