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CONTENTS SPECIAL SECTION:
Building Community in Privatized Housing
6 Growing Communities Through its dynamic community centers, Piceme Military Housing works to develop and maintain unique and desirable communities. By Karen Orwin
10 Connecting Single Soldiers A busy calendar of Life Works events at Marne Point Unaccompanied Personnel Housing, Fort Stewart, brings residents together to improve their quality of life. By Andrea Theil
12 Communities That Thrive Forest City Military Communities engages staff and residents to create a sense of place. By TI·oy Knivila-Ritchie
16 Building Something Greater Lend Lease communities offer military families a place to bond, communicate, and build lasting relationships. By Dixie Lanier Johnson
18 Scholarship Opportunity for High Schoolers The Lend Lease Community Foundation plans to award a total of 12 $5,000 scholarships to eligible applicants for the upcoming 2013-2014 school year. Adapted from a Press Release
2 DEFENSE COMMUNITIES
20 20 Flooring Factors
As flooring options abound, it's important to do the necessary research to determine which type fits your needs and budget. By Tim Skufca
22 A Personal Touch The right flooring goes a long way in creating an upscale aesthetic with long-term value and sustainability. By Ben Saylor
2 4 Flooring for Wounded Veterans Mohawk continues its partnership with Operation Finally Home to provide mortgage-free homes for wounded veterans and their families. Adapted from a Press Release
FEATURES
2 6 Fiscal Crisis Brings Threat of Base Closures The nation's current fiscal uncertainty ensures that base closings remain a threat in the years ahead; here's how to prepare in case closures become a reality. By Elizabeth Ferrell, Jim SchweiteJ; and Patrick Stanton
SPECIAL SECTION: Building Community in Privatized Housing
Well-connected staff and a sense of place help to
create camaraderie in military housing
By Troy Knivila-Ritchie
12 DEFENSE COMMUNITIES
C reating a sense of community in military housing is vital fo r both the residents' and associates' morale. It is very stressful for families to move to a new location, away from friends and
family. Forest City Military Communities gives families ample opportunities to create new bonds and feel as though they are a part of the new community they have chosen to call home, even if it might just be for a matter of months.
As a public/private venture (PPV) partner with the Navy in providing on- and off-base multi-family housing, we know that incoming service members and their families have a choice in where they live. We make that choice an easy one by offering a sense of community that cannot be experienced when living out in town. By offering residents activities where they can interact with peers, Forest City associates help create camaraderie that is not common in nonmilitary housing.
Victory Ten·ace kids' playroom, looking towards fitness room
But that sense of community does not just simply happen because the neighborhood is comprised of military members. It is cultivated and nurtured by our caring and dedicated associates. Community activities are not always big, lavish productions. In fact, some activities, like our story time in the kids' playroom, family movie night, board games, "60 minutes of play," cooking classes, and arts and crafts for both children and adults do not always have a military theme. In addition, we also offer homework assistance and tutoring, which is supervised by high school-aged resident volunteers. Our devotion to our residents is exemplified in our continued efforts to not only plan but also participate in community events.
By offering residents activities where
they can interact with peers, Forest
City associates he I p create
camaraderie that is not common in
non-military housing.
Engaging residents Getting residents' input regarding what activities to plan helps us a great deaL We invite our residents to share their ideas with us via email, in person, and on our Facebook page. The more input we receive, the better we are able to tailor events to reach the most residents. Our goal is to get residents to participate in the process so they know they have a voice. Another communication channel we have been building is the Resident Advisory Board (RAB).
The RAB is made up of resident representatives from each of our neighborhoods, with an elected president, vice president, and secretary for the overall community. The elected officers act as a liaison with Forest City's management team, while the individual RAB members ideally have their fingers on the pulse of the residents. It was established to give the residents a forum to speak among themselves in a manner similar to a Navy Ombudsman. Residents can bring grievances forward, share ideas with the RAB, and know that they will be heard through official channels with the Forest City management team. We simply provide the structure and the opportunity, but the RAB is run by the residents, for the residents. The RAB is really all about the residents.
Team building Our staff encompasses both leasing and maintenance associates that are located in three different regional areas
MARCH I APRIL 2013 13
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SPECIAL SECTION: Building Community in Privatized Housing
throughout Puget Sound who do not see each other on a regular basis. Bringing them all together in groups helps them to better understand how their individual roles affect one another. While they may not interact often with each other, they do interact with residents on a daily basis. That fact alone binds them together and helps to provide the fertile soil for cultivating that sense of community we strive for at Forest City Military Communities.
Our team meets at least twice a year as an entire regionthere are about 80 of us across the Puget Sound region. The general manager usually shows a training video or has the team participate in some fun team building activities, which help keep communication channels open between these groups long after the exercises have ended. It is not always obvious, but team building exercises also help to improve customer service.
The exercises can take many forms. Our bi-annual staff events often include activities like team scavenger hunts, team pumpkin carving and decorating using non-traditional items, trivia, and games like "Minute to Win It." These activities bring together people who do not regularly work faceto-face, encouraging them to step outside their comfort zone. Stepping even further outside one's comfort zone is a little thing we refer to as "Video Showcase."
At least once a year, we ask the leasing and maintenance departments at our three regional locations to create a themed video. This tends to bring out the creative thespians or creative video editors in each region. We have focused on such topics as customer service, energy savings, and compliance. From those topics, each department is given a theme such as action movie, reality 1V show, etc. Given those parameters, as well as a time limit, each department is free to create their masterpiece, which will be displayed at one of our bi-annual events. The videos are voted on, and the winners receive a trophy that they proudly display in their office until the next video submission.
While you won't find these videos on YouTube (hopefully), they do help to create a sense of community by drawing our associates together in a fun way, under a unified goal. The more fun the staff have, the more they will look forward to coming to work every day, and that is infectious. Happy associates have a more positive demeanor, which is demonstrated in their interactions with military families and the customer se}:Vice they provide daily. •
Tlvy Knivila-Ritchie is the community services coordinator for Forest City Residential Management, Pacific Northwest Communities, LLC. Reach him at [email protected].
Committed to creating economically and environmental ly sustainable communities, Balfour Beatty Communities is providing up to 4.700 military homes with so lar energy systems at Fort Bliss, Texas, a Net Zero Installation. Once completed this project will be the largest solar powered community in the world.
14 DEFENSE COMMUNITIES