CAI-NJ December 2020

Honoring Our Essential Workers By Nicole Martone, CMCA, AMS, PCAM – Associa Community Management Corp., AAMC, Michael Ryan – Adamas Building Services and Larry Thomas, PCAM – Taylor Management Company, AAMC, AMO

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W e are certainly living through some crazy times, aren’t we? They don’t teach “global pandemic” in property management. And if they did, where would they even start? I think we can all agree that they would likely start by emphasizing the impor- tance of our essential workers. Our concierges, porters, gate guards, superintendents. These are the people that have been helping to sustain the quality of life for many of our managed communities. Often, property staff is embraced as part of people’s fami- lies. They are the people that see our residents off to work in the mornings and welcome them home from a difficult day in the evenings. During this challenging time, they are the safe faces that provide a sense of normalcy to a chaotic world. When many residents have been mandated to stay home, the concierge or package attendant still calls to let them know their food delivery has arrived, their sister is parking the car, or their Amazon delivery is ready to be picked up. They are the maintenance crew who show up and do their normal jobs under abnormal circumstances. Whether it’s a different way

of pushing an elevator button or making sure the doorknob is sanitized before entering an apartment. Or, it’s the porters that come to work to make sure that the hallways are clean and the garbage is removed, when many residents are home, and some have been sick. The gate guard that is faced with visitors daily and must trust that someone they are interacting

with is not contagious. The super- intendents that leave the safety of their home to go into apart- ments for a water leak, whether someone is ill or not, without fail. Our staff has been crucial in

“Our staff has been crucial in keeping operations moving and progressing...”

keeping operations moving and progressing while at the same time, going through the emotions that we have all been feeling. The concern for their own safety, the safety of their loved ones, the complications of operating in this new way, are all put aside to serve the associations for which they work. On behalf all the associations we serve, we thank you for being our essential workers, now more than ever! n  

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