Latisha Bell on the Work of Seeing People
Latisha has spent 10 years working at a Preservation Management property in North Carolina and now serves as Community Relations Manager, supporting the company’s work across the Mid-Atlantic and Southern regions. She started as a Resident Services Coordinator, helping residents connect with resources and find a way forward when they faced challenges. Over the years, one woman’s story has stayed with her, largely because of what happened when Latisha chose to go a little beyond what her job required.
The woman was a single mother of four who had become a mom as a teenager and left high school before graduating. With Latisha’s encouragement, she returned to school and worked toward finishing her education. She was just one semester away from completing her program when she hit a roadblock: a $300 balance she couldn’t afford to pay.
Latisha could have pointed her toward resources and left the next steps to her. Instead, she told the woman, “Give me just a couple days. I'm gonna call some resources. We're gonna get that $300.”
She started making calls. Eventually, she connected with the director of an after-school program her children attended, who had funds available to help parents in need. The balance was paid, and the woman was able to finish her program. Today, she’s pursuing a degree in social work.
For Latisha, helping residents find resources was part of the job. Taking the extra time to make calls, find the right person, and help remove a barrier like this was something more. And it made a lasting difference in one woman’s life.
That kind of extra effort, Latisha says, is part of what makes Preservation Management different. The company’s resident services work is about more than providing housing or handing someone a list of resources. It’s about helping residents move forward, and recognizing that sometimes a little extra support can make all the difference.
Helping people understand what residents are up against
Latisha has spent about 10 years working with Preservation Management, and she now serves as the company’s Community Relations Manager, supporting its work across the Mid-Atlantic and Southern regions. She has seen how much can happen when residents have access to the right resources and people who are willing to help them find their way forward.
But that work also asks a lot of the employees who interact with residents every day.
Property managers, maintenance supervisors, and other team members are responsible for the day-to-day operations of their properties. They also work with residents navigating challenges that may not be obvious from the outside: a health issue, childcare difficulties, transportation barriers, or trouble understanding a complicated process.
Even a routine request can look different depending on what someone is dealing with. Latisha shared the example of asking a resident to provide a birth certificate for housing compliance. It may seem like a straightforward task, but the resident might need to navigate an unfamiliar online process or request a document from another state.
“If you’re working with people who are experiencing poverty, you have to understand the emotional and mental effects of poverty,” Latisha explained. It’s important to recognize that people have different experiences, backgrounds, and access to resources, and that those differences can shape how they respond to a situation.
For Latisha, helping employees see those differences is part of helping them do their jobs well. A policy still needs to be communicated. A document may still need to be collected. But how an employee approaches that conversation can make a difference in whether a resident feels respected, understood, and able to take the next step.
Why Preservation Management brought COPE to its team
Michele Folino, the SVP of Preservation Management had a vision for employees to understand the issues that our residents faced. The company had previously held a smaller simulation for a group of maintenance employees, and when it began planning its next company conference, leadership saw an opportunity to bring that kind of learning to a much larger group.
More than 120 people attended, including property managers, maintenance supervisors, corporate staff, and members of the executive team and ownership. They chose Think Tank’s Cost of Poverty Experience (COPE), an in-person simulation designed to help participants experience some of the difficult decisions and competing demands that families navigating poverty face.
The goal was to help employees better understand the challenges residents may be managing outside their interactions with the company. Some employees work closely with residents and hear their stories every day. Others, particularly those in corporate roles, accounting, or billing, may have fewer opportunities to see those challenges up close.
Latisha wanted the experience to help bring those perspectives together.
During COPE, participants take on the roles of individuals and families and try to navigate the demands of everyday life with limited resources. They encounter competing priorities, unexpected complications, and decisions that don’t always have an easy answer.
For people who spend their workdays managing policies, property operations, and deadlines, the experience offered a different vantage point: what might those same systems and expectations feel like to the person on the other side of the conversation?
The conversations didn't end when COPE was over
Latisha remembers the debrief that followed the simulation. People opened up about what they had experienced. Some were emotional. Others talked about situations they hadn’t fully considered before or the choices they had struggled to make during the exercise.
And the conversations continued after the conference.
Weeks later, employees were still talking about COPE and sharing what they had taken away from it. Latisha heard colleagues say they understood certain situations better and were less quick to become impatient. They were beginning to put themselves in residents’ shoes and think differently about what might be happening beyond the immediate issue in front of them.
Some participants had arrived unsure about what to expect. For them, the experience became something much more meaningful than another training session.
“COPE brought us all back together,” Latisha said.
That stood out to her. Preservation Management had brought people from different roles and levels of the organization into the same experience, and they had a chance to learn alongside one another.
The company also reviewed the survey feedback from participants and began considering how to share the lessons with employees who weren't able to attend. Property managers and maintenance supervisors could help bring those conversations back to their site teams, so the learning could continue beyond the conference itself.
For Latisha, that next step matters. An experience can change how someone sees a situation, but the real opportunity comes when that understanding carries into everyday interactions with residents.
A commitment that starts at the top
One thing Latisha especially appreciates about Preservation Management is how involved its owners and leadership team are in the work. The owners and Executive Leadership Team participated as resource leaders during COPE, taking part in the experience rather than simply observing from the sidelines.
Latisha sees that involvement as a reflection of the company's culture. She believes leadership wants both residents and employees to succeed, and that commitment shows up in the support provided to site teams, the resources made available to residents, and the willingness to invest in employee development.
When Latisha talks about her role, she describes it as a calling. She knows the work can be challenging, but she also sees the difference it can make when people have someone willing to listen, help them find resources, and encourage them to keep going.
She hopes other affordable housing organizations will consider how they can equip their teams to better understand the people they serve. Frontline employees need practical tools, but they also need opportunities to step back, reflect, and consider what residents may be experiencing.
For Preservation Management, COPE was one way to create that opportunity across the organization.
Back to that $300
It’s worth returning to the woman who was one semester away from finishing her program.
Latisha didn't have an immediate answer when she learned about the $300 balance. She didn't know which resource would be able to help, or whether her calls would lead anywhere. She simply knew the woman was close to reaching a goal and needed help getting past one more obstacle.
So she made the calls.
That same willingness to look beyond the immediate problem is what Latisha hopes employees will bring to their work with residents: a little more patience, a willingness to listen, and an understanding that what seems like a simple next step may be much more complicated for someone else.
Preservation Management is already doing that work in its communities. By investing in its employees and giving them opportunities to better understand residents’ experiences, the company is strengthening the relationships at the heart of that work.
Sometimes, that way forward starts with a $300 bill and someone willing to make a few phone calls.