When you love your job, it shows in many ways. When you’re the community director of an apartment complex like Evelyn Carter at Velo on the Boulevard Apartment Homes in Salt Lake City, you’re motivated to find ways to share that spark with the residents who live in that community.
Inspired by Daniel Kageyama’s ”Love Notes” [link to Weidner Love Notes landing page] – communities can show love for their residents by doing simple things that “surprise and delight” – Carter decided to share that concept with the residents in her apartment community as a way of encouraging them to feel a deeper sense of connection to the place they call home.
“The people are the best thing about our community,” said Carter. “We have awesome residents – they’re very active here, both with each other and when attending the resident events we host every month.” Carter said she knows her residents are feeling the love because “we always have a great turnout at our events. People really seem to enjoy getting to know each other… getting to know their neighbors, and they keep coming back for more.”
Here are just a few of the ways that Carter and her team share Love Notes with the residents in their community:
- Resident birthdays – Sometimes it’s the little things that have the biggest impact. Since it’s a smaller community with just 99 apartments, Carter said it’s possible for her staff to create personal touches like honoring each resident’s birthday with a card signed by the entire team, and maybe including some candy or flowers to go along with it. “It makes people really happy and that makes us happy,” said Carter.
- Movie room – When you’ve got a state-of-the-art surround-sound theater in your apartment community with a huge screen and comfy couches, it makes it easy to have fun where you live:
- “We host movie nights, complete with popcorn and beverages, just as an enjoyable thing to do sometimes,” said Carter.
- Residents also reserve the theater for movie marathons, video game battles, and TV events – “We have a close group here that reserves the room for ‘Bachelor Night’ where they watch and discuss the show and laugh… a lot. We’ve sprung for pizzas a few times, just to add to the party atmosphere,” said Carter.
- Resident events – Carter makes it a point to host one or two events per month, just to keep the love alive. Some of these have included:
- Super Bowl party – “We catered the party this year with some great game-day snacks and drinks, and had a nice turnout,” said Carter. “Everyone wants to do it again next year.”
- Holiday movie marathons – During the winter season, the staff runs all-day holiday-movie marathons complete with warm drinks and treats.
- St. Patrick’s Day party – “Can you believe that one of our leasing specialists volunteered to do all the cooking for the party this year? Everyone was thrilled – it was delicious and very much appreciated,” said Carter, adding, “I think that says a lot about how much we truly love working in this community.”
- Easter Egg hunt – Since Velo on the Boulevard has mostly adult residents, instead of hiding candy, the staff hides plastic eggs containing numbers throughout the property, which the “finders” redeem in the office for a gift card as their prize.
- Paint and sip – Carter and her team hosted a group painting lesson along with beverages of the burgeoning artists’ choice.
- Summer BBQ party – Summertime is a great time to be outside, and each summer, the residents in this Salt Lake City apartment complex chat while relaxing in the furnished outdoor lounge area, dance to the live music in courtyard, and enjoy the catered BBQ food provided by the staff.
- Taco Tuesday – Sometimes, just because it’s Tuesday, Carter and her crew host a Mexican food bar where the residents build their own tacos and chow down while listening to, what else?… Mariachi music, the perfect complement to the lively meals.
- Pastries and hot chocolate bar – Way south of the border, and sometimes in Salt Lake City too, it gets ridiculously cold, so the staff sometimes surprises and delights residents with hot chocolate (complete with tons of different toppings) and a nice selection of pastries “to warm their day and, hopefully, their hearts,” said, Carter.
- Breakfast on the go – Commuters in a hurry love this gesture because they can grab a bite and a cup of joe to go and arrive at work fueled up to start their day. Of course, all residents are invited and often partake in the AM treat.
- Friendsgiving – “This is our favorite event,” said Carter. “We hold this about a week before Thanksgiving, and while we cater the main meal, the residents all bring desserts to share. It’s our most popular party and people talk about it all year long.” With this event, Carter has discovered a Love Note tradition that delights year after year.
Carter said she and her staff plan to keep giving Love Notes to their residents all throughout the year for one simple reason: “It’s super fun and all of us really enjoy it!”
If you want to live in a great apartment in Salt Lake City with special touches like a gas range and granite countertops that’s centrally located with beautiful mountain views and has a close and active community, contact the staff at Velo on the Boulevard Apartment Homes today to schedule your personal tour find your perfect new home!
(801) 850-9918
