Clearlake Isles; Creating Homes and Cultivating a Caring Community

“At Clearlake Isles, we had an apartment become available unexpectedly, the tenant was unable to give any notice which put us in a hurry to get it leased as soon as possible.  We went through our entire Interest List and nobody on it was able to move in for immediate occupancy.  I previously had been talking to Betsy Farmer, a Director at Brevard County Housing Authority who helps find housing for those who may be homeless.  I had worked with Betsy at Promise in Brevard, a property in Melbourne that RAM had previously managed.  She once told me that if I had if I had anything available to reach out.  I gave her a call, as we needed someone right away, and she had an applicant for me.  We worked with Donna at the Genesis House in getting his application completed as our applicant is legally blind.  After several phone calls and papers back and forth, we finally got him approved to move in, on the day that his Hotel Voucher expired. A huge thank you to Kelsey Brites in Compliance who was able to urgently approve this application, due to our  designated Compliance person being out for the week.  Kelsey, you are a life-saver!  We couldn’t have done this without you, too.

During the application process, I was made aware that our new resident owned nothing but a suitcase and a backpack.  We were about to move him into this beautiful apartment, but he had nothing, the need to help him was overwhelming.  I enlisted the help of my staff and my amazing Clearlake Residents.  I sent a text out to everyone, only telling them that we were seeking donations of any and all household items for someone in need.  We had a flood of messages and deliveries to the office.  Within 3 hours we picked up donated items, sanitized them and put them in our new resident’s apartment.  Neither our staff or residents had yet met Mr. Thomas, or even talked to him on the phone.  We were not sure how this was going to go.

Thanks to the outpouring of donations from our Clearlake Crew, Thomas moved in to a furnished apartment.  Silverware, dishes, towels, brand new linens, a couch, brand new mattress, box spring and frame, a TV, DVD player, Toiletries, a patio set for his balcony, cleaning supplies and even food. Our residents really went all out, some of them made trips to Walmart and amazon purchases, for a man they knew nothing about, or even met before.

My Maintenance Supervisor Mike and Porter, Ricky were an amazing help.  They picked up all of the donated items, sanitized them and put it all in the apartment.  I was very impressed with their decorating skills.  So proud of these guys!

We are so overwhelmed with our little Community and just how amazing our residents are.  Thomas was beyond thrilled walking into his new apartment, he was so grateful, so so grateful.  Many tears were shed at Clearlake that day. Needless to say, he is so happy to call Clearlake Isles home!  “

-Natalie Bender; Community Manager at Clearlake Isles Apartments

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