michaels - P`unk Avenue

winter 2014
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Developments
Together We Build Communities
@michaels
Fish Tales & Other Stories for Employees of The Michaels Organization
The Michaels Org
Transitions to
Google Apps
for Business
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Up front
Passport to Health
Passport to Health Deadline
is Fast Approaching
Earn 100 Points by April 15
to Save on Health Insurance
Premiums!
If you are participating in the
Building Better Lives Passport
to Health Program, you must
earn at least 100 points by
April 15, 2014, to reduce the
amount of money you contribute for your health insurance
benefits after the next open
enrollment period. Those who
earn at least 100 points will
receive a discount on payroll
contributions worth between
$1,200 and $1,800 annually.
Personal health statements
showing current point balances
have been mailed to employees’ homes.
Have you completed your 2014 Goals in SuccessFactors?
See Important Info page 8
The Michaels
Organization’s
Goals
Create and preserve excellent housing
that is well managed and financially viable
Enhance the lives of our residents
and the communities where they live
Foster and continue an accepting, friendly
and respectful environment
Heartwarming Christmas Greeting from Kuhio Park Resident
See page 7 for more details
John and Ava’s columns will return with the next issue
John O’Donnell
Ava Goldman
President
President
The Michaels Organization
Michaels Development Company
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Kudos
Chicago Team
Takes the (Cup)Cake!
This is sweet! Our team in Chicago received a record 11 awards
from the Chicago Housing Authority at the agency’s annual
“Cupcake Award” Ceremony, where they recognize management
excellence in their portfolio. Congratulations to all our winners!
No Long Term Vacancies:
Legends South; Mariel Rodriguez, Assistant Manager for Leasing
Westhaven Park; Sheila Davis, Assistant Manager for Leasing
Park Douglas; Takieya Renfro, Site Manager
Resident Engagement:
Westhaven Park; Lisa Young, Resident Services Coordinator
Legends South, Vorricia Harvey , Director, Resident Services
Community Engagement:
Westhaven Park; Lisa Young, Resident Services Coordinator
Legends South, Vorricia Harvey, Director, Resident Services
Living Springs Earns Community
of Quality Designation
Living Springs Senior Residences in Delanco, NJ, has been
named a Nationally Recognized Community of Quality by the
National Affordable Housing Management Association (NAHMA),
a leading industry group. This unique recognition is bestowed only
on a select group of properties that represent the “best of the best”
in affordable housing communities.
According to NAHMA, Living Springs earned the Community of
Quality Award by meeting the highest standard of excellence in
property management, maintenance, operations, and in the provision of services to lower income families. Living Springs also met
strict financial management and physical inspection criteria to be
named a Community of Quality.
Congratulations to all our Living Springs teammates: Site Manager
Charlotte Sims; Taquana Wright, Assistant Manager; Lonnie
Lofland, Superintendent; Lorenzo Messam, Maintenance Tech,
and Better Tomorrow’s Marlena Marcano-Philemon, Social Service
Coordinator.
Customer Service Award
Legends South, Lisa Crenshaw, District Property
Manager
Maintenance Award
Park Douglas; Henry Benamon, Maintenance Supervisor
Rising Star Award:
Legends South (Savoy Square) Kourtney Williams,
Administrative Assistant
Park Douglas; Takieya Renfro, Site Manager
What a Team!
A Big Shout out of thanks
and congratulations to
IRM’s Director of Marketing
Angela Hegna, Senior Leasing Specialist Rose Coreano
and their teammates Ana
Sarante, Laura Teran, and
Shaila Jimenez for their success in leasing up all our tax
credit units by year’s end.
3
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Kudos
Perfection
Congratulations to
Nicole Whiting and the team
at Heritage Place at Lakeside
in Blackman Township, MI
for receiving a
PERFECT SCORE on their
most recent state file audit!
Great News
Mayor of Baltimore Grateful for “Excellent Collaboration” with
Michaels on Key’s Pointe, the revitalization of the O’Donnell
Heights public housing community in Baltimore.
Lanford Townhouses’ (Lanford, PA)
most recent REAC score was 98!
High Scores All Around!
Abbey Lane scored 94
on its latest REAC
A Big congrats to our
teams at Lehighton
Elderly in Lehighton,
PA, and Wildwood
House in Beckley, West
Virginia, for scoring 95
and 98, respectively,
on their latest REAC
inspections!
Congratulations to Lori Siefring, Site Manager at
Abbey Lane Apartments in Winter Haven, Florida, who
earned her Housing Credit Certified Professional (HCCP)
designation to go along with the CPO designation she
earned in July!
4
{
C o v e r S t o ry
Going Google
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00.00
GA:LAOC_1
9/9/2013
Our Chief Information Officer, George
Kelly, announced on January 14, that all
employees and property sites that have an
@theMichaelsOrg.com e-mail address will be
transitioning from Microsoft Outlook to Google
Apps for Business for their online business
communications.
Although our email addresses will not change,
we will essentially be using “gmail” for our
business communications once the transition
is complete. The change means we can get
our email from any computer or mobile device
that is connected to the internet. We will also
have access to online document collaboration
through Google Docs and instant messaging
and video conferencing capability through
“Google Hangouts.”
Google Drive: Access and organize your files
Use Google Drive to store and access your files, folders, and Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides anywhere.
Change a file on the web, your computer, tablet, or your mobile device, and it updates on every device where
you’ve installed Google Drive. You’ll always have the latest version of your files and Google Docs at your
fingertips. Read, edit, share, and collaborate wherever you are!
Set up Google Drive
1. In your browser, go to drive.google.com.
When you first access Google Drive on the web, you’ll see a Welcome page. If you’ve previously used
Google Docs, Google Drive on the web will look something like this:
5
1
11/27/2013
DN:GA-GSGD_103.00
{
C o v e r S t o ry
Additional benefits include:
n An increase in mailbox storage to 30GB for
each user
n No scheduled outages for your email account
Watch your email and visit our Intranet for more
information from IT about the transition which will be
phased in by groups of employees over the next 90 to
120 days. In the meantime, you can learn more about
using Google Apps at these links:
n Google Apps for Business
http://learn.googleapps.com/
n Google Hangouts
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hangouts/nckgahadagoaajjgafhacjanaoiihapd?utm_
source=gmail
n Chrome, Google’s Internet Browser
https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/browser/features.html#security
Gmail: New compose
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9/9/2013
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Access The Michaels Organization’s
Intranet for Important Information for
Employees Only
Important news and information for employees of
The Michaels Organization, including announcements from IT on “Going Google” is being posted
and shared on our Intranet. The intranet is part
of the new www.TheMichaelsOrg.com website
that is password protected for employees only.
All employees from all companies within The Michaels Organization are invited to create a log-in
to access this important information.
You do not need a @theMichaelsOrg.com email
address to access the Intranet; however, you
do need an employee User ID number to create
your log-in for the first time. All employees have
been sent postcards with their number on it. If
you have lost your number or did not receive
one, please contact Heather Young at HYoung@
themichaelsorg.com or 856-355-2544 for assistance in getting your User ID.
The Intranet is mobile friendly so you can connect to it from a smartphone or tablet—you do
not need a laptop or desktop computer to access
the Intranet site.
In addition to important information about the
transition to Google Apps for Business, the
Intranet includes important announcements
from Human Resources, and links to our outside
service providers, such as Ipay and Attentive
Health. In 2014, more information will be posted
on a regular basis as a way to improve communications sharing among all the teammates of
all our companies, so please create your log-in
account today!
6
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11/27/2013
DN:GA-DB_104.01
{
Human Resources
April 15 Deadline Approaches
for Saving On Health Insurance
The Michaels Organization, like many
other employers, adopted an employee
wellness program to promote health and
prevent disease. Over time, the results of
these programs can be very effective.
Whether or not you are enrolled in the
Michaels medical plan, we encourage you
to participate in the company’s wellness
program through Attentive Health. Our
wellness program offers financial rewards towards the cost of
the medical plan and the opportunity to earn paid time off benefits. However, the “big payoff” is the opportunity to leverage
this program to improve your overall health by participating in
the program activities and preventive care activities that are
offered. We know how difficult it is to make changes on our
own (and stick to them!), and this program can help.
Our new benefits plan year begins June 1, 2014. In order to
continue to receive or earn your health insurance savings of
$50 per paycheck (Single or Employee plus Child(ren) Coverage) or $75 per paycheck (Employee plus Spouse or Family
Coverage) for the upcoming benefits plan year, be sure to
earn at least 100 points under the Passport to Health Wellness Program. Your 100 points must be earned and submitted
to Attentive Health by April 15, 2014. If you earn 150 points,
you are eligible to also receive 4 additional personal paid time
off hours.
New Hires: If you were hired by the company after June
1, 2013, be sure to complete your annual physical by May
15, 2014 to earn or continue to receive your health insurance
savings.
Hawaii Based Employees: Due to state mandated health
insurance requirements, please refer to the Passport to Health
Program that is specific to your state for your applicable
rewards.
Attentive Health recently mailed to your home a Personal
Statement reflecting your Passport to Health points earned as
of January 20. There is still time to earn your points, but don’t
wait too long!
If you have any questions regarding our Passport to Health
Program, please contact Attentive Health at 1-877-269-9754
or email them at admin@attentivehealth.com.
PASSPORT TO HEALTH
™
Personal Statement thru January 20, 2014
TO:
Sally Sample
Please see below for a statement of the number of points you have earned in the Passport to Health wellness program,
earning your health insurance savings and other rewards for the 2014-2015 plan year. As a reminder:
 All program activities are due by April 15, 2014
 100 POINTS are needed in order to receive the health insurance savings ($50-75 per paycheck)
 150 TOTAL POINTS are needed to qualify for the “Extra Mile” reward (4 hours of paid personal time)
If you have receipts for activities that you have not submitted yet, please do! Be sure to turn in all your receipts as soon as
they are available. You can submit receipts via email, fax or US mail (see contact information below for Attentive Health).
YOUR PASSPORT POINTS EARNED
(JUNE 1, 2013 – JAN 20, 2014)
PROGRAM ACTIVIES
Goal-Setting Meeting
Non-Tobacco Affidavit
OR Complete “Quit for Life” Program
Biometric Screening
Aetna Health Assessment
AND Aetna Online Wellness Program
Attentive Health Personal Health Survey
Attentive Health Coaching
Attentive Health Fitness Log
Gym Visits & Fitness Classes
Michaels Wellness Challenge
# POINTS POSSIBLE
50 points
YOUR POINTS
0
25 points
0
25 points
0
50 points
50
25 points
10 pts each (up to 30)
1 pt each (up to 30)
1 pt each(up to 50)
25 points
0
0
0
0
0
25 points
0
# POINTS POSSIBLE
25 points
YOUR POINTS
10 points each (up to 20)
10
Other Approved Program (Weight Watchers, etc.)
PREVENTIVE CARE ACTIVITIES
Annual Physical / Well-Visit Exam
Dental Hygiene Exams
0
0
Eye Exam
15 points
Flu Shot
15 points
0
Annual Pap Smear (females)
15 points
15
Annual Mammogram (females, age 40+)
15 points
15
Annual Prostate Screening (males, age 50+)
15 points
0
Colorectal Cancer Screening (age 50+)
15 points
0
Other Preventive Screenings
15 points
0
TOTAL POINTS EARNED
100 MINIMUM
YOUR TOTAL =
90 POINTS
You still have time to earn your points, but don’t wait too long!
Please see your PASSPORT for more information on how to earn additional points.
If you believe this statement is in error, or if you have any questions,
please contact Attentive Health at 1.877.269.9754 or email us at admin@attentivehealth.com
P.O. BOX 61 | TELFORD , PA 18969 | 215.530.9751 | WWW.ATTENTI VEHEALTH .COM
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{
Human Resources
‘SMART’ Goals Help Drive Professional Success in 2014
Our annual performance evaluations conducted in the 4th quarter of the calendar
year are comprised of two major parts. One
part of our annual evaluation is based on
our performance in the area of core company competencies that are essential to the
achievement of the company’s success.
Those competencies are: Job Knowledge,
Teamwork, Dependability, Communication,
Initiative, and Quality.
The other part of our annual evaluation is
based on our performance against goals. So,
why is it important that we have goals? Goals
express to you what is expected. When goals
are in place, it provides a sense of direction,
which is motivational and give us the pride of
achievement. Goals tell you how your performance will be evaluated, and on what basis
you will be rewarded. For managers, goals
help them to know where people are investing their time and energies and how well they
are doing. Individual employee goals tie to
important goals of the department, business
unit and company. Managers are expected
to collaboratively establish goals with their
employees.
Creating “SMART” goals – goals that are
specific, measurable, achievable, relevant,
and time bound—is critically important to this
process. All employees should have already
met with their managers to finalize their
goals, and to enter them into the Success
Factors system, either electronically or on
paper.
All Employees and managers should review
their goals on a periodic basis throughout
the year, so they can ensure that they are
on track to meet them, or to revise them if
needed based on changing priorities for their
positions.
If you have any questions about goals or the
Success Factors performance management
system, please speak with your supervisor or
contact Human Resources.
Key Contacts in Human Resources
Bob Witkoski
BWitkoski@TheMichaelsOrg.com
Paula Gessner
PGessner@TheMIchaelsOrg.com
Feb. 1, 2014 was the targeted date for all
employees to have finalized their goals in
Success Factors, The Michaels Organization’s electronic performance management
system. The Success Factors system allows
managers to evaluate both core competencies and job specific goals for each employee
during annual evaluations.
8
{
Human Resources
E n s u r i n g a C u lt u r e o f S a f e t y
The Michaels Organization Kicks off New Safety Awareness
and Training Effort
In 2013 The Michaels Organization
in collaboration with Conner Strong
& Buckelew launched an effort to
identify ways to assist the company
in strengthening and building a
strong safety culture. The Michaels
Safety Task Force (MSTF) was created to accomplish this goal.
The Safety Culture and its
Impact on an Organization
assess the risk of exposures to those
hazards, to minimize the risk of exposures to hazards, and to be prepared
to respond to situations.
The elements of a strong
safety culture
Leadership and Management
of Safety in the Academic
Institution
The safety culture of a company is a
reflection of the actions, attitudes, and
behaviors of its members concerning
safety. These members include the
managers, supervisors, and employees in each business unit. Serious injuries and incidents within an organization are often thought to be the result
of a weak or deficient safety culture—a
principal root cause of incidents.
The safety culture of a company plays
a critical role in setting the tone for
the importance placed upon safety by
its employees. Leaders are the key
to building a strong culture of safety.
Leaders inspire others to value safety,
seek open and transparent communications to build trust, lead by example,
accept responsibility for safety, and
hold others accountable for safety. The
direction for and strength of the safety
culture is determined by its leaders.
The need for a Strong
positive safety culture
Safety Attitudes, Safety
Awareness, Safety Ethics
Safety is a positive value—it prevents
injuries, saves lives, and improves productivity and outcomes. When safety
is actively practiced and is regarded as
a critical core value by organizational
leaders, it bestows a sense of confidence and caring in all of the people
who work here.
Solid safety awareness and attitudes
are important, and building safety
awareness requires a long-term effort—safety is highlighted repeatedly.
Teaching safety continuously can build
positive attitudes and strong safety
ethics among workers. Following
safety policies and procedures is just
as important as the information the
workers receive in a presentation or
through training. The proper attitude
for safety is reflected in the “Safety
Ethic”—value safety, work safely, prevent at-risk behavior, promote safety,
and accept responsibility for safety.
A strong safety culture is required to
protect employees but is especially
important in protecting residents and
visitors. This culture emanates from
ethical, moral, and practical considerations, rather than regulatory requirements. In a strong safety culture,
employees will acquire the skills
necessary to recognize hazards, to
Learning from Incidents
has been learned from mistakes or incidents. Using these incidents and the
lessons learned as case studies provides an opportunity to think about how
safety measures could have prevented
or minimized these incidents. An
important element of a strong safety
culture is establishing a system for
reporting and investigating incidents,
identifying direct and root causes, and
implementing corrective actions.
Promoting and
Communicating Safety
Probably the best way to promote
safety is through personal example.
Promoting safety at your location is, in
part, dependent upon a continuous effort to advocate for a strong safety program. Advertising and promoting safety
could take many forms. Locations may
consider having open seminars to discuss topical safety issues or incidents.
Recognition of individuals for doing an
outstanding job in safety is an important part of a vibrant safety program.
Establish a procedure for soliciting
suggestions for improving safety and
identifying safety concerns.
The goal of MSTF is to develop guidance, suggestions, and recommendations that can help strengthen the
safety culture throughout the entire
company.
Eric Voight
Risk-Safety Manager
IRM
Much of what is known about safety
9
{
t h e m i k e i n m i ch a e l s
By Michael J. Levitt
Chairman & CEO
Year in Review 2013:
Challenges, Growth & New Opportunities
Highlights from Mike’s annual speech given at
the corporate Holiday Party, Dec. 14, 2013.
“
I just love giving you your
annual state of the company
report. I feel like I am Vince Lombardi
and you guys are the Green Bay Packers….
You are the greatest team in the rental housing development business!
This year we crossed a magical threshold for
gross revenues—$1 billion dollars! There is
only one way we can achieve such incredible
success and that’s by having eight companies led by superstars, with 1,884 terrific
teammates who all contribute.
What was most exciting this year was how
the different companies worked together to
submit and win proposals.
These successful ventures are especially
worth mentioning:
In California, Whitney Weller and
Kevin Rodin from Michaels Development Company, as well as Kimberlee
Schreiber from IRM backed up Ron
Hansen from Michaels Military Housing and Rhonda Johannesen
from University Student Living to submit a
proposal to develop 500 units of student and
faculty housing for the University of California
at Davis on their campus The competition
was fierce, including the number one student
housing developer in the country. Our presentation must have been great because the
University leaders came to visit us in Marlton
and to see the student housing project we
developed at Rutgers University in Camden.
And we won!
erty manager and developer of four existing
properties with a total of 665 units, currently
owned by the Atlanta Housing Authority. IRM
immediately began managing the properties
and we will be pursuing acquisition/rehabs
for each property.
Scott Puffer, working with University Student
Living’s Joe Coyle and Mark Gleason, was awarded a development job with
200+ units in Loveland, Colorado.
MDC’s Andy Davenport, with help
from Roger Williams and Richard
White at IRM, headed up a proposal they
submitted for the purchase and renovation of
existing properties in the Baltimore Housing
Authority inventory. His proposal ranked first
among 17 competitors. We were selected
for the two best communities in Baltimore’s
portfolio, a total of 514 units, which we will
now manage and rehab.
Michaels Development
Company
With the rehab of the 555-unit Kuhio Park in
Honolulu now completed (Greg Carroll
made sure construction was completed on
time and under budget), Ava Goldman
and our Hawaii team led by Monica
Mordasini will begin new work there,
including a 300 unit deal outside of Honolulu
awarded by the State of Hawaii.
Sasha-Gaye Angus completed one
9% tax credit deal in Franklin, Tennessee and
has another 9% deal almost completed in
Baltimore. She is my hero—she has four jobs
and none have a deferred development fee!
In Atlanta, MDC’s Milt Pratt and Scott
Puffer worked closely with IRM VP
Marc Getson to be named as the prop-
Whitney Weller’s Chicago office continues
to move deals forward in their long pipeline
of Chicago Housing Authority deals. Despite
numerous setbacks and political challenges,
Lauren Shepherd is leading the
Chicago team toward closing Legends South
Phase C-3, the fifth phase of the Legends
South development.
Mikki Anderson has faced similar
challenges with City Gardens, but has this
deal in line for a first quarter 2014 closing.
Additionally, the Chicago team was successful in being selected for a new acquisition
rehab deal in East Chicago.
In New Jersey, Joel Silver received
three 9% tax credits awards for jobs in
Jersey City and Newark, plus $15 million in
Hurricane Sandy recovery funds.
Greg Olsen has been an outstanding
construction teammate for The Michaels
Organization. In addition to his Chicago
responsibilities, he has extended his role to
support Milt’s team this year in Franklin, Tennessee. He is also representing University
Student Living in Minneapolis, where we
have three development jobs that will be
worth $200 million.
Joe Chambers received a 9% tax
credit award on Janie Poe III in Sarasota—it
was his 3rd annual try…what persistence…
no wonder we are #1!
Scott Puffer has been busy in 2013 securing
awards for potential RAD redevelopment opportunities in Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington,
Kentucky.
2013
This $85 million development, led by Student
Housing, will include participation from MDC,
MMH and IRM through the pre-development,
construction and operating phases.
Joe Purcell stands up to be recognized by
Mike Levitt for his leadership of Prestige
Affordable Housing Equity Partners over
the past 13 years, positioning it for major
growth in the years ahead.
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In California, we will be able to look back on
2013 as the year we laid the foundation for
our west coast growth. At Jordan Downs,
Kevin Rodin is the lead in transforming 700
units of public housing into 1,500 units of
mixed income housing, along with a grocery
anchored retail center. We won $4 million
of Community Development Block Grant
funds from the City of Los Angeles, which is
an unprecedented amount in the city. This
was followed by winning a $6 million grant
from the county transportation authority to
begin infrastructure work on site. We then
assembled a team of more than 30 partners
to submit an application for a $30 million
Choice Neighborhoods Initiative implementation grant.
Wright Brothers Court in Palmdale, an outer
suburb of Los Angeles, is on track to be
completed by the end of this year and will
provide 156 units of much needed affordable
housing.
Mike Boettger and Kathleen
Paley are very busy in our Lodi, Ca.
Office. This year they closed out Los Banos
and started construction on Garden Apartments. They also won 9% tax credit awards
for Lilly Hill and Mesa Grande. Tuolumne is
next in their pipeline along with two deals
in Nevada. Additionally, the Lodi team responded to their first RAD RFQ for a 112-unit
acquisition/rehab in Las Vegas.
Prestige Affordable Housing
Equity Partners
In 2013 we made a significant change in our
tax credit investment shop after concluding
that Prestige Affordable Housing Equity Partners had the potential for even more growth,
if it had a dedicated staff.
One of the more exciting developments
for Prestige is the fact they are pursing
relationships with other developers and have
recently won the right to raise capital for a
large project just outside of Philadelphia,
which is being sponsored by a non-profit.
They are also working on a sizeable project
in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The Prestige pipeline of projects that are
funded with credits is over $140 million,
and they have an additional $443 million in
process.
I can’t talk about Prestige Affordable
Housing Partners without recognizing
Joe Purcell. For the last 13 years,
Joe and his small staff handled all our tax
credit syndications. He syndicated almost
$500 million in credits, and deserves a big
hand from all of us!
Continental Mortgage Corp.
Jim Miller—Senior Vice President of
Continental Mortgage Corp. is my jack of
all trades. CMC has only 5 staff members,
but they handle all the projects we sell—8
in 2013—as well as all the refinancing on
our older properties. CMC refinanced five
properties in 2013. Jim and his team also
handled nine new acquisitions and are
providing the FHA mortgage financing on our
new construction job in the Virgin Islands.
University Student Living
University Student Living had a banner year
in 2013 and they have only been active
for a couple of years. They completed two
communities, started construction on three
more and have nine communities in their
pipeline. USL, led by Joe Coyle, who is ably
assisted by Ronda Johannesen and
Jim Malesich, are on track to place us
among the top 5 student housing developers
in the country.
2013
Sebastian Corradino, an experienced industry professional and leader,
came on board to lead Prestige, where he
began on July 1st. Since then, Sebastian has
made some key hires for Prestige, including Rick Slagle, who will lead Prestige
relationships with both developers and investors, Zenzi Reeves, an experienced
LIHTC professional who is heading up Asset
Management, and Andrew Anania,
as Investment Analyst.
Interstate Realty
Management Co.
Through the end of 2012 and throughout
2013, IRM’s Gary Eckrote, Roger
Williams, Sandy Cipollone and
Prestige Building Company’s Russ May-
nard worked together with emergency
service contractors and others to restore all
of the units in our portfolio affected by Hurricane Sandy--40 properties in all. Efforts by
the entire IRM team ensured our residents
were only minimally affected by the storm.
On July 1, IRM took over management
of four properties for the Atlanta Housing
Authority after successfully responding to an
RFP in conjunction with the Michaels Development Company. Marc Getson, after doing
such a good job with the Chicago Housing
Authority, graciously volunteered to take the
lead on this new opportunity and has done
a fantastic job in transitioning the properties
and staff. In fact, we received the results of
our first quarterly review from the Housing
Authority and we have received excellent
ratings. In order to allow Marc to focus on
his new responsibilities in Atlanta, Louise
Dooley, Marc’s District Property Manager
in Chicago stepped up to a VP role and has
done an outstanding job filling his shoes in
Chicago. We look forward to great thing from
Louise in the future.
Our 2013 golf tournament raised a record
$116,000 for The Michaels Organization
Educational Foundation. Sandy Cipollone
and Cheryl Hernandez and the
entire team of volunteers, too numerous to
name here, did another fantastic job for the
foundation. Proceeds this year are more than
double what we raised in 2011 and more
than 40% higher than what was raised last
year. Just think of the number of residents
who will be afforded educational opportunities because of their efforts, great job!
Sadly, several months ago our dear friend
and the Superintendent at Skyline Gardens, Lou Tomaso, passed away way
too early in life. Lou was one of the most
dedicated, skilled, hard working and hard
playing supers on our team. Lou was always
the “go to” guy when we needed someone
to travel and assist with a problem anywhere
in the country. He never declined a request
for assistance. In honor of Lou, Roger
Williams and others gave out “Lou Tomaso
Road Warrior Awards” to staff members who
volunteered to travel to assist others. Over
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t h e m i k e i n m i ch a e l s
50 of these awards were presented during
district meetings this year, demonstrating the
outstanding commitment of our staff to do
whatever is necessary to help us succeed.
As usual, Chuck Durnin has stepped
up to take on some of the more challenging
issues and properties at Interstate. Chuck
and his team of Gina Young, Jennifer Griffin, Julie Ann Duca, and
Tom Galyardt have done a great job
responding to these challenges. Additionally, on January 1, Chuck took supervisory
responsibility of our compliance department,
who have been traveling to assist where
needed.
Kimberlee Schreiber has been busy in
California. She played a key role in our
selection as developer and manager of over
500 units of faculty and graduate housing on
the campus of the University of California in
Davis, CA. She and her team have also been
responding to numerous RFP’s for management services in an effort to grow IRM’s west
coast division. She won several fee manage
opportunities in CA, and is currently chasing
opportunities with the Los Angeles Housing
Teammate of
the Year
Authority and the state of Hawaii. I know
under her leadership we will continue to see
growth on the west coast.
Michaels Military Housing
and Michaels Management
Services
For 2013, Ron Hansen and his military housing team set a new high for earning fees.
They are at a record 7 locations with 10,442
units!
This year they are finishing up development
at Ft. Huachuca by building 201 new single
family homes at a development cost of $100
million. At Ft. Leavenworth, they are finishing
up over 500 homes at over $280 million in
development costs.
Sherri Farris was promoted to Vice
President and has done great things leading
MMS efforts on the east coast. Sherri joined
Heather Plummer this year in earning her Certified Property Manager designation. Heather Plummer, Bill Sweeney
and Rand Howes did a great job
keeping all the military bases running like
clockwork, despite government budget cuts
Russ Maynard is the 2013 Teammate of
the Year. Russ’s most incredible accomplishment this year was saving our student
housing development in Fayetteville,
Arkansas.
We were told in July that our builder at
the University of Arkansas would not
complete our job by the start of the school
term at the end of August. Russ, John
O’Donnell, and I flew down in July, and
Russ concluded that there was no way that
units for 650 beds we going to be ready
for occupancy in time. We visited with the
Mayor and building inspector, who told us
that they didn’t see how they could give
us certificates of occupancy in time, which
would have been a disaster.
2013
Prestige Building Company’s Russ Maynard
accepts his “Teammate of the Year” award
from Mike Levitt.
Russ took charge—he organized a team
from many different companies within
The Michaels Organization to provide
and occupancy challenges.
Ron Hansen, Mike Kruse and Teri
Polidora used their expertise learned
doing military housing to assist Rhonda in
getting selected for two on-campus deals,
Kean University and the University of California at Davis. These two projects will lead to
us delivering over 1400 beds of student and
family housing through 2016.
Prestige Building Company
Russ Maynard’s Prestige Building
Company has had the opportunity to work
with almost every company and department
in the organization this year!
They are doing the construction at both our
military bases, Ft. Huachuca and Ft. Leavenworth, on time and under budget, saving us
millions of dollars. They do all the construction on Mike Boettger’s jobs in California; for
Milt they are the general contractor for his
jobs in Shrevesport, Louisiana; Wilmington,
Delaware and Sugar Estates in the US Virgin
Islands. Prestige is also the contractor for
one of Joel Silver’s jobs in Jersey City.
management and labor forces. University
Student Living, Prestige Building, Michaels
Development and Interstate Realty worked
as a close-knit/one company/with one
goal: To get it done. Russ charmed the
City officials and he and his team worked
15 hours days, 45 straight days, including
weekends, and got 400 beds C.O.’d by
the end of August. We housed the other
250 students in a hotel until Russ’s crews
finished the buildings in September and
fully occupied our job.
Special thanks in this incredible effort
also go out to Steve Yeary, Brett
Smith, Rick Armstrong,
Gerry Coyle, Matt Glenn and
the dozen or so IRM staff members from
Oklahoma, Texas and Mississippi, who
worked so hard to get this job completed.
Congratulations Russ!
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Year in Review
Management Gathers in Philadelphia
for Annual Corporate Retreat
In December, the management team of The
Michaels Organization gathered in Philadelphia
Two Housing
Hall of Famers
put their heads
together: CEO
Mike Levitt and
MDC President
Emeritus Bob
Greer take the
opportunity at the
retreat to engage
in an intense
conversation.
for their annual corporate retreat, where they
spent the day reviewing the year’s highlights,
discussing current issues and future needs,
and team-building.
In addition to business updates from each company leader, the day also included a presentation from Rebecca Tone, president and CEO
of Better Tomorrows, the non-profit that now
provides supportive services to our residents at
more than 120 sites managed by Interstate Realty Management. She shared the non-profit’s
plans for documenting their successes “supporting lives and empowering communities,”
and their strategy for fundraising in the future.
With resources and budgets at both the federal
and state level still very tight, John said it will
continue to be challenging to raise all the needed funds to create quality affordable housing–
The management team also heard from Chief
but that we have an impressive pipeline of new
Financial Officer Joe Purcell about the impor-
developments and as well as substantial oppor-
tance of managing cash flow and from our
tunity to refinance, rehabilitate, and preserve
construction managers on dealing with subcon-
assets in our own portfolio. IRM is taking on
tractors, standardizing building materials, and
new management opportunities, including addi-
controlling costs.
tional fee-managed sites. Our student housing
The Michaels Organization’s President and
Chief Operating Officer John O’Donnell kicked
off the proceedings with a recap of the accomplishments and challenges our organization
company, University Student Living, has jobs
under way for off-campus student housing as
well as on-campus housing for students and
faculty in partnership with Universities.
has faced over the past year. An important
John also spoke about his visits to several IRM
part of his speech was about how the lines of
District Meetings in 2013 and how energizing
the various companies within our organization
the experience was for him of being with the
have been crossing more and more, and how
on-site staff. All of us, he said, can be very
exciting and successful the teamwork across
proud of our Organization’s growth and the
companies has been in solving problems and
great work we did in 2013, and look forward to
meeting challenges.
exciting opportunities in 2014.
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Year in Review
Interstate Realty Management
Michaels Development Company
IRM’s President Mark Morgan noted that IRM
had several major accomplishments this year,
including:
Ava Goldman, MDC’s President, reported that
her team had completed 12 developments in
2013 and has 17 deals expected to close by
year’s end 2014. She also reported that MDC
is looking in new directions for growth opportunities, including non-PHA affordable housing;
market-rate and mixed-income opportunities,
and a healthy mix of preservation and new
construction. In addition, Ava said MDC will
be looking at ways developers can assist with
operations, specifically in helping to get subsidy
payments flowing faster and addressing operating deficits.
n Spinning off Supportive Services to Better
Tomorrows
n Clearing a LBP Audit from HUD Healthy
Homes Department
n Leasing up The Towers of the 555-unit Kuhio
Park in Hawaii to full occupancy
n Reducing Staff Turnover by 19%
n Taking on four management jobs in Atlanta,
our first time in that city.
n Meeting revenue expectations.
Mark also discussed several challenges that
lay ahead for his team, including managing sequestration and HUD budget cuts, and reducing receivables owed to IRM.
Better Tomorrows
Better Tomorrow’s President and CEO Rebecca Tone shared a high
level overview of Better Tomorrow’s goals for 2014, saying that her
team is focused on providing quality measurable programs and case
management that will be funded by the top funders in America locally
and nationally. Top priorities include:
University Student Living
USL President Joe Coyle reported that the
company’s first two student housing communities were completed and now occupied, The
Vue in Fayettesville, Arkansas and The Edge in
Mobile, Alabama. USL also has three projects
already under construction and expects to start
seven more off campus communities before
year’s end. In addition, USL is working on its
first two on-campus housing deals, one with
the University of California, Davis, and one with
New Jersey’s Kean University.
✹ Establishing Better Tomorrows as a separate
Non-profit organization
✹ Building structures that sustain
growth and fundability
✹ Assessing for relevance to funders and
residents, measurability and impact at scale
✹ Providing world class service to its customers.
A new website, public relations campaign, and social media strategy
will help promote Better Tomorrows’ identity and purpose, while the
non-profit continues to ramp up and quantify its impact-driven social
services programs centered on four targeted areas: Healthy Lifestyles; Educational Success; Strong Communities; and Economic
Stability. Future fundraising efforts will look to corporate and foundation giving, government grants, and individual giving campaigns.
Prestige Building Company’s Russ
Maynard let the pictures speak
for themselves for his report by
showing video of the company’s
latest homes at Ft. Leavenworth.
See the video at www.
prestigebuildingcorp.com
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Year in Review
Michaels Military Housing and
Michaels Management Services
Prestige Affordable Housing Equity
Partners
Ron Hansen, who runs our military housing companies, reported that we are nearing
completion of the development aspects of Ft.
Leavenworth, Ft. Huachuca and Yuma Proving
Grounds, all on time and within budget. Additionally, MMS is continuing to deliver excellent
community management services to our own
projects as well as the four military housing
posts that we manage for other owners.
Sebastian Corradino, who assumed the presidency of PAHEP in July, gave a high-level look
at what a full service syndication company
does, including acting as a “matchmaker” between investors and developers. His company’s
focus in 2014 will be on building up PAHEP’s
capacities and securing the best deals possible
for both developers and investors.
With much of the development work winding
down for MMH, Ron said he and his team have
been actively assisting USL with its on-campus
housing deals, which share similarities with
military housing developments in the way deals
are structured.
What is a Syndicator?
A Match Maker
Pipeline
•
Renaissance at Allendale
•
Brigantine Homes
•
Legends South Phs C-3
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Catherine Todd Senior
•
Glennview Phase II
•
Lilly Hill
•
Spruce Senior
•
Sugar Estates
•
Tulane Phase II
•
North Penn Commons (3rd party)
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Ft. Huachuca, Yuma Proving Grounds Earn Exceptional
Scores during Army Inspections
The Department of the Army conducted a compliance inspection and
development review of The Michaels
Organization’s Military Housing
communities at both Fort Huachuca
and Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) in
Arizona this past summer. The goal of
the inspections are to ensure that the
properties meet the minimum standard of operating compliance based
on a set of metrics designed to review
all military projects in the US Army’s
housing portfolio. Metric functions included Community, Housing, Property
Management, Maintenance, Administrative, Quality Control and Assurance
and Internal Controls.
The inspection included a detailed
review of the invoicing and ordering
procedures for maintenance and community management operations, as
well as an overall assessment of the
property appearance and maintenance
upkeep. The focus of the inspection was on Michaels Management
Services (MMS) functions with Stacey
Loucks-Spivey at Fort Huachuca, Meagan Hannon at YPG, and Rick Sperle
covering the facility management at
both sites.
Due to funding constraints on the government and the imminent shutdown,
the inspection team also inspected the
development completed and remaining
per the plan approved when Michaels
Military Housing (MMH) took owner-
Kim Briswalter, the supply specialist at
Fort Huachuca who was recognized and
commended for her great work, with Rick
Sperle, Facility Manager
ship of the property in 2009.
After a 2 day review at Fort Huachuca
and another full day at Yuma Proving
Ground, the inspection team met with
both separately to issue their preliminary results and comments and followed a week later with a conference
call that included the local Community
Management teams, the local Army
leadership including both the Garrison
Commander at Fort Huachuca and the
Garrison Manager at YPG, and the
Program Management team in Washington DC.
The Michaels projects in Arizona both
scored exceptionally high, exceeding
the Army goal of 95%, with YPG at
97.8% edging out the Fort Huachuca
score of 97.7%.
The Army inspection team took particular notice of the inventory and supply
functions stating, “Management of
inventory at Fort Huachuca should
be commended and marked as a
“best-practice” throughout [the
Army] portfolio”. The superior
‘behind the scenes’ effort of Kim
Briswalter, the supply specialist
at Fort Huachuca was recognized and commended for her
great work.
either Fort Huachuca nor YPG, commenting that the newly constructed
facilities were excellent and the new
houses were, “the best in the Army
portfolio”.
Overall, the Michaels Organization
team in Arizona received high praise
for their efforts and were rewarded with
comments and scoring that exceeded
the goal—all while conducting business as usual.
Great Work Team!!
Congratulations to our Ft. Huachuca
team (picture above) and our Yuma
Proving Grounds team (pictured
below).
The results of the development
inspection was likewise superb,
with the Army inspectors, who
had not previously been to
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Gorgeous New Homes Excite Soldiers and Their Families at Ft. Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth Frontier Heritage
Communities continues with deliveries
of its very popular single family homes.
The third phase of these homes is
being delivered now and families have
been waiting in temporary housing to
get them. The families are so impressed with the new homes they are
willing to wait for more than 90 days
in temporary housing. The residents
believe it is a worthwhile wait because
of the exterior appeal and the wellappointed interiors.
What makes these homes so desirable
is how they compare to homes off post.
Brett Smith, who is the Project Manager for Prestige Building Company,
describes these homes as “quality built
energy efficient homes with amenities
that exceed the standard package of
most homes off post.” Michaels’ own
Prestige Building Company is providing construction management services
to the builder, Hearthside Homes, Inc.
These homes have features including
granite countertops, stainless steel
appliances; oil rubbed bronze fixtures,
large walk-in closets, open floor plans
and a front door sidelight that opens
to create a larger doorway entry. You
won’t find these as standard items in
the Leavenworth community.
Bill Thomasset, Michaels Military
Housing’s Development Manager
at Fort Leavenworth, has all of the
remaining new home construction
phases underway. More than 50
homes were delivered in October and
the remaining 100+ homes will be delivered throughout 2014, bringing the
total new home count Michaels has delivered to Ft. Leavenworth to 708 since
inception of the project in 2006.
Newly constructed single family homes in
Lower Kansa Village, at Fort Leavenworth, KS.
Street view of
the first phase
of new homes in
Lower Kansas
Village.
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Grand Openings
Ribbon Cut at Rockview Terrace
Not even a foot of snow could
keep the New Haven community
from giving Rockview Terrace a
warm welcome at its grand opening ceremony Dec. 18. Mayor John
DeStefano and Congresswoman
Rosa DeLauro were among the
VIPs who joined MDC President
Ava Goldman, Vice President
Peter Wood, and executives from
the New Haven Housing Authority
for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. A
big shout out of thanks to our IRM
teammates, including Site Manager Mario Molano and maintenance technicians Omar Ursini and
Maurice Peters, who along with
Jack Curran, construction manager for Michaels Development
Company, had Rockview looking
wonderful and safe to navigate in
all that snow.
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s ta f f d e v e l o p m e n t s
Welcome New Teammates!
The companies of The
Michaels Organization
welcomed the following new
employees between December 2013 and January 2014
Kelvin Snider, Maintenance
Technician, Jacksonville, FL
Noel Castellanos, Leasing Agent,
Jersey City, NJ
Deborah Gonzalez, Site Manager,
Henderson, NV
Dolores Nafus, Assistant Manager,
Swoyersville, PA
John Alexander, Maintenance
Technician, Trenton, NJ
Barbara Hughes, Office Assistant,
Clearlake Oaks, CA
Jayce Robinson, Site Manager,
Palmdale, CA
John Rasdall, Inspector, Rushville,
MO
Wendy Borchers, ILE Student
Coordinator, Kansas City, KS
Colton Votaw Dagen, Maintenance
Technician, Corning, CA
Quishon Griffin, Site Manager,
Lancaster, CA
Ana Sarante, Leasing/Marketing
Specialist, Bronx, NY
Jenny Rosado, Site Manager,
Monticello, NY
Cedric Williams, Maintenance
Technician, Kansas City, MO
Anthony Shumpert, Maintenance
Technician, Tupelo, MS
Tasha Lewis, Leasing Agent, Fort
Worth, TX
Charles Hutchinson, Maintenance
Technician, Philadelphia, PA
Evelyn Whitman, Resident Services
Coordinator, Ft. Belvoir, VA
Franklin Oliver, Maintenance
Technician, Philadelphia, PA
Nina Parker, Site Manager,
Newark, NJ
Warren Pitts JR., Laborer,
Hereford, AZ
Tracey Gray, Site Manager,
Philadelphia, PA
Eleazar Alvarado, Maintenance
Supervisor, Wasco, CA
Kevin Liberty, Facilities Field
Technician, Leavenworth, KS
Zenzi Reeves, VP Asset
Management, Voorhees, NJ
Vincent Hill, Maintenance
Technician, North, SC
Chadric Bloomer, Maintenance
Technician, Oklahoma City, OK
Yadir Rodriguez Arocho,
Groundsmen, Camden, NJ
Rachel Griffo, Quality Control
Technician, Sierra Vista, AZ
Matthew Andrews, Maintenance
Technician, Hartly, DE
Amarilys Echevarria, Office
Assistant, Brooklyn, NY
Guillermo Gonzalez, , Easton, PA
Michael Norwood, Maintenance
Technician, Baltimore, MD
Vicente Cardona JR., Landscape
Supervisor, Douglas, AZ
Hyidril Miller, Newark, NJ
Edgar Flores, Maintenance
Technician, Ridgecrest, CA
Marscalese Gaines, Maintenance
Technician, Connellsville, PA
Tracy Martin, Maintenance
Superintendent, Allentown, PA
Manuel Caraballo, Maintenance
Technician, Houston, TX
Scherea Culver, Assistant Manager,
Lancaster, CA
Nigel Williams, Assistant Manager,
Honolulu, HI
Darren Boyd, Maintenance
Technician, Stafford, VA
Steven Speakman, Maintenance
Superintendent, Wichita, KS
Shawn Allen, Maintenance
Technician, New Orleans, LA
Joe Chambers
Andrew Davenport
Sasha-Gaye Angus
Kristina Vagen
Gerry Coyle
Co n g r a t u l a t i o n s to o u r N e w V i c e P r e s i d e n t s
Congratulations to Joe Chambers, Andrew Davenport, and Sasha-Gaye Angus on their recent promotions
from development officers to Vice Presidents of Michaels Development Company.
Congratulations to Kristina Vagen and Gerry Coyle, who have been promoted to Vice Presidents
with University Student Living.
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s ta f f d e v e l o p m e n t s
Welcome New Teammates!
MDC Welcomes New VP in Hawaii
PAHEP Begins to Build Team
The Michaels Development Company is
pleased to welcome Karen Seddon, who has
joined the company as a Vice President of Development. She is located in Michaels’ Hawaii
office and is responsible for the development
of affordable housing from conception through
completion. Karen has worked extensively in
the construction and development industry
for more than 30 years, and has held several
positions in the public and private sectors. Most
recently, Karen served as Executive Director
for the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, which is the state housing
finance agency that develops and finances
affordable housing in Hawaii. Karen holds an
MBA from the University of Phoenix, and a B.S.
in Construction Engineering Management from
Oregon State University.
Prestige Affordable Housing Equity Partners
welcomed a new investment analyst as it builds
out its capacity and adds resources for its work
as a full service tax credit syndication company.
Our new Online Marketing Specialist
Staci Wixted, who spent
the summer as an intern
with the corporate marketing department, has joined
The Michaels Organization
as our new Online Marketing Specialist. She will be
responsible for creating
Staci Wixted
and managing content on
our new websites, including the intranet, and
helping site staff manage their property websites and social media pages. Staci is a 2013
graduate of Rutgers, Camden, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing.
Investment Analyst Andrew Anania is involved
with the origination, acquisition, financial underwriting, and syndication
of investment capital for
affordable housing development. By evaluating the
specific goals of PAHEP’s
investor and developer
partners, Mr. Anania is able
to maximize resources proAndrew Anania
vided to affordable housing projects through the Low Income Housing
Tax Credit program, ensuring long term value
creation for all parties. Before joining PAHEP,
Andrew served as a senior associate in the
Private Advisory Services Group of Family
Endowment Partners in Wayne, PA where
he was responsible for sourcing, structuring
and managing direct private equity and debt
investments.
Andrew holds a BS Degree in Finance and
Accounting from St. Joseph’s University in
Philadelphia. He is based in the corporate office in Marlton.
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Site-ings
Homemade Holiday Cards at Abby Lane
Children at Abbey Lane in Winter Haven, FL enjoyed
a day of holiday card making in December.
Christmas in Hawaii
The annual Kalihi Christmas Parade is considered O’ahu’s longest
and oldest parade. The 67th annual parade, held on November
29th, was the first year ever that residents from Kuhio Park have
participated in the event. Better Tomorrows’ Anni Petersen, Director
of Social Services at Kuhio Park, shared these photos with us,
saying that she agreed with the post-parade comments that she
heard from many of the bystanders that our residents float was
one of the best! Anni said she was also impressed by how many
residents participated in the float decorating effort, especially among
the Aumaga Patrol members!
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{
Site-ings
Thank you to Sharon Beasley, the Site
Manager, of Garrison Woods Apartments
in Stafford, VA who shared these photos
with us of resident Tiaire’a Madden
receiving her GED certificate, and
resident Kyra Scott who was Garrison
Woods 2013 recipient of the IRM/
Michaels Organization annual Toy Drive.
The local community also participated in
a Toys for Tots drive that benefitted our
residents at Garrison Woods.
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{
R e s i d e n t Sch o l a r s
R e s i d e n t S c h o l a r s h i p A p p l i c at i o n s
Now Being Accepted for 2014/15 Academic Year
The Michaels Organization Educational
Foundation, is now accepting scholarship
applications for the 2014-2015 school year. All
residents who live in affordable, mixed-income
and military housing communities owned or
managed by the companies of The Michaels
Organization are invited and encouraged to
apply for a scholarship.
The scholarship funds, which are paid directly
to the educational institution, can be used
toward higher education at any accredited college, university, or vocational training program
in the country.
The Michaels Organization Educational
Foundation has committed at least $225,000
in scholarship funds for the 2014-2015 year. In
2013, the foundation received a record number
of applications and awarded a record $450,000
in scholarships grants. To date, more than $3.5
million in grants have been awarded, benefitting more than 1,600 students.
Applications must be received by the Foundation
no later than May 16, 2014. Awards will be
announced in June 2014.
Applications should be mailed to: Dr. Bruce W.
Johnson, The Michaels Organization Educational
Foundation, 3 East Stow Road, Suite 100, P.O. Box
994, Marlton, New Jersey 08053-0994. For more information or assistance, you can email Dr. Johnson
at bjohnson@themichaelsorg.com.
Foundation funds are raised through the
financial support of corporations, companies,
families, private trusts and individuals known
throughout The Michaels Organization business network. In addition, Michaels’ Chairman
and CEO, Michael Levitt and his wife Pat Levitt
contribute $2 for every dollar raised by the
Foundation.
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{
good works
Building Community at Brookside Estates
The Management staff of Brookside
Estates continues to encourage their
residents to become involved with
Building Community through activities intended to assist the residents in
fundraising for their Resident Association and to give the young people
and families something to do on warm
summer nights.
Mario Molano, manager, along with
Omar Ursini and Maurice Peters, Maintenance Tech, Superintendent set up a
mini movie theatre on the Community
Building garage doors once or twice a
month and showed movies to about 40
residents who came with lawn chairs
and blankets. The event was well received and children in attendance were
required to have an attending adult for
supervision. Popcorn and Italian ice
are provided by Management. Since
the weather has turned cooler of an
evening, the movie nights are held at
the newly remodeled offices located at
295 Wilmot Road.
Veronica Wright, part time Social Service Director, has organized a group
of about 30 kids from age 6 to age
16 to develop ideas to prosper their
activities by doing fundraising. Following the Roberts Rules of Behavior
the Wednesday afternoon meetings
this summer channeled the energy
of these young people, helping them
understand how to think and problem
solve. They scheduled car wash fund
raisers that netted them about $200.00
toward an “off campus” adventure/trip
next year. Veronica encourages them
to come up with goals and then work
out solutions to meet them. So much
so that they have applied for, and received, a small grant to provide healthy
snacks for their activities and after
school meetings. How about that!
Through communication with various
City of New Haven officials Mario was
also successful in getting two “walking
beat” police officers fresh out of the
Police Academy to patrol our communities. Officer Allyn Wright and Officer
Elizabeth White, under the supervision
of Sgt. Renee Forte, have made a
positive impact on the neighborhood.
They are personable and make the
effort to make themselves available to
the residents of the community they
serve. We are so blessed to have this
Community Service.
It doesn’t happen overnight and you
have to care enough to do the extras
to make this all work, but the management staff at Brookside is building
community, one day at a time. Stop by
sometime for a tour; we would love to
show you our property.
—Maribeth Scheidig
Activities for the children are
an important part of the
community at Brookside.
24
{
good works
Fourth Annual Westhaven Park Holiday Potluck
Our Westhaven Park community in
Chicago has limited resources to
devote to Social Services programs
so the staff has had to improvise. One
improvisation is for the annual holiday
party, where IRM provides a meat dish
and the residents do the rest. So the
residents, in essence, give to each other at the holiday season. You can see
by these photos taken by Lisa Young
Westhaven Park Holiday Potluck Dinner, December 18, 2013
and shared by Louise Dooley that our
residents do a great job - and they
really look forward to it ever year. Our
residents don’t have much and the fact
that they willingly put forth this effort
says a lot about the spirit of giving!
Westhaven Park Holiday Potluck Dinner, December 18, 2013
Westhaven Park Holiday Potluck Dinner, December
Successful Annual Toy Drive
Thank you to everyone across our organization and at Better Tomorrows who
“adopted” a family for The Michaels Organization’s annual toy drive. Melissa
Rivera, who helped organized and facilitate this year’s toy drive, reports that toy
donations poured in, benefiting 245 children in 99 families whose names had
been submitted from our sites as in need of a little extra help.
Contributions from staff at the home office, the military housing sites, the district
property managers, site staff, and Better Tomorrows staff had the home office
looking like Santa’s workshop for most of December, keeping Melissa and her
co-workers busy packing and shipping. One home office employee donated three
big trash bags FULL of new, unopened toys and one of our senior sites donated
about 3 boxes full of new unopened toys donated by the senior residents.
Our Residents of Mountain Vista Communities at Ft.
Huachuca made news in the local paper, The Scout,
after collecting and donating more than 3,000 items
during a food drive the for local food bank.
25
{
live, work, play, michaels
Photos from the corporate
Christmas party.
Watch The Michaels Organization’s
40th Anniversary Tribute Video
es
mmuniti
e Build Co
at To
www.TheMichaelsOrg.com
gether W
Follow Us on
FACEBOOK
For more news from
our sites around the country
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E
2012
ent
{
better tomorrows
An All-Star Opportunity
for Young Residents in
Camden and Philadelphia
Better Tomorrows and Rebirth Camden partnered together to bring a unique and thrilling opportunity to youth who
live in properties owned and managed by The Michaels
Organization in Philadelphia and Camden, N.J. , On
January 15th, 26 youth ages 8-13 traveled to the Wells
Fargo Center to play an All-Star game at the home of the
Philadelphia 76ers.
The All-Star program was conceived by Tyheem Baker,
a Camden-based community activist, who heads Rebirth
of Camden. The program is designed to make the connection between hard work and positive outcomes for
youth facing adversity. Participating youth learn the value
of collaboration, teamwork, and commitment with an
opportunity to annually participate in this special event
where youth are given trophies and jerseys for their
participation.
“The program came together after I recognized that
Camden youth would benefit from a positive program
where work ethic and motivation are rewarded with a
chance to play on the court at the Wells Fargo Center,”
said Baker.
Baker reached out to Better Tomorrows to connect the
program with the individuals who would most benefit
from the rewards of this opportunity. Better Tomorrows is
the non-profit organization that provides social services
to residents living at communities managed by Interstate
Realty Management.
“This type of collaboration is just the type of partnership
that Better Tomorrows seeks. Whenever we can tie local,
meaningful programs to the communities we serve, it’s
a win-win situation,” said Rebecca Tone, Better Tomorrow’s President and CEO.
The 26 All-Star game participants as well as an more
than 100 other young people and their families who live
in the Michaels communities, were treated to the Philadelphia 76ers home game against the Charlotte Bobcats.
These tickets were generously donated by the Philadelphia 76ers and distributed by Baker.
Better Tomorrows
organized participation
from youth and families
from seven affordable
housing developments
across the greater Philadelphia region owned by
Michaels and managed
by Interstate Realty
Management: McGuire
Gardens, West Poplar
Apartments, Kensington
Townhouses, Haddington Townhouses,
Sharswood Townhouses, Jackie’s Garden and
Courtyard Apartments.
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