The Power of Relationship: Samantha Culver’s Approach to Resident Trust and Connection

Welcome to Heartbeat of Housing! I’m Michelle Voke, your host, and in this episode, I’m excited to share a heartfelt conversation with Samantha Culver, a remarkable service coordinator whose story truly embodies what it means to support affordable housing communities.

Samantha’s journey into this profession started unexpectedly during the pandemic, and she brings a wealth of social work experience and dedication. Together, we talk about her transition from working in nursing homes to independent living, the challenges she faced, and her commitment to helping residents thrive. We discuss the importance of building trust, fostering a sense of community, even at a smaller, scattered-site property, and how creative events and daily connection make a real impact.

We also discuss the reality of professional isolation and the necessity of self-care for those in helping roles. Samantha shares candid lessons about maintaining boundaries, advocating for herself and her staff, and supporting residents' autonomy. From navigating the ups and downs of community events to connecting with other service coordinators through platforms like Just AASC, this episode is filled with honest insights and practical wisdom.

Whether you’re new to service coordination or a seasoned veteran, I think you’ll find inspiration in Samantha’s approach to keeping residents healthy, happy, and housed.

Three key takeaways from Samantha's story:

• The Importance of Building Trust: Service coordination is rooted in relationship-building. Samantha emphasizes the challenge of gaining residents' trust, especially after periods of turnover. Her consistent presence and empathy create a supportive, stable environment where residents can thrive.
• Self-Care & Boundaries Matter: As a “helper” professional, Samantha is intentional about preserving her well-being. She advocates for taking PTO, daily breaks, and establishing boundaries—reminding us all that taking care of ourselves is essential for serving others effectively.
• Community Engagement Is Evolving: Samantha gets creative with events and resource-sharing, learning that even if only a few residents attend, it’s a win. She’s quick to adapt, seek new ideas from the Just ASCC platform, and understands that resources can benefit residents and their families, sometimes in unexpected ways.

Our Mission

Advancing national standards of practice for service coordination by amplifying the voice of our members.

Our Vision

We are committed to enhancing service coordination through leadership, professional development, advocacy, and partnerships.

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Copyright 2026 American Association of Service Coordinators

I'm so excited to join you for another episode of Heartbeat of Housing, where we share the stories of those working to keep residents in affordable housing all healthy, happy, and housed. Today, I'm so excited to have Samantha Culver join me and have a conversation about her role as a service coordinator and her history in becoming one. And I'm just excited to start this conversation. Samantha, why don't you kick us off and give us a little bit of background? Tell us the story of how you became a service coordinator and what brought you to this profession.

Okay. Um, I— this job literally fell in my lap, um, almost 5 years ago. It'll be 5 years May 10th. Um, during the pandemic, I was working in a nursing home as a social worker. Um, I have my bachelor's in social work. Unfortunately, after the pandemic and things kind of calmed down a little bit, we had lost so many residents that they had to cut my position. So I was like, well, you know what, I only have like a year left of school. I'm gonna stay at home as long as I can and just really knock that last year of school out of the ballpark.

That lasted for about 30 days. And then I was twiddling my thumbs. I'm like, okay, I can't do this. You know, my kids are older. You know, I only had one in high school at the time. I had applied for this job once before and didn't get it, um, and seeing that it was open again and applied and interviewed, um, and I, I've been here ever since. And I'm just learning more and more about the role of a service coordinator and the impact that we do make on their lives on a daily basis. It's just unbelievable.

Well, that's incredible, and good for you for finishing your degree and continuing to work through that and living through a pandemic, right? I mean, all of those things kind of, uh, colliding at once had to be pretty rough on you.

Um, it was rough. Um, I had a really good support system at home.

Um, it's good.

The COVID— COVID, if, um, you were in long-term— or even this, I heard it was pretty rough for service coordinators during COVID Um, I, I don't think I'll ever be able to work in a nursing home again.

Yeah, yeah, I can't imagine what that was like. I know that, you know, our members went through a lot during that time in the sense of, you know, sometimes I felt like it was almost better in a nursing home because there was more guidelines and, you know, rules and support knowing that folks who were living in nursing home— it's a, it's a well-known model, right? For affordable housing with services is not as well known, is not supported and backed by Medicare and the federal government in the same way as it relates to healthcare. So it often felt like they were forgotten as far as, you know, what does support look like. So we had to do a lot of advocacy. Um, but yeah, I can't imagine what it was like in the nursing homes, in, you know, any kind of assisted living during that time. Um, but I'm glad that you found your way here into service coordination. Had you ever heard of service coordination before you applied the first time to this role?

So when I applied the first time, I had started school. My background is mainly working with adults with intellectual disabilities.

Okay. Yeah.

And I learned the role of the service coordinator for that field, um, and that's kind of what I was going for. And then, like I said, this job literally just fell on my lap, and, um, I'm still a service coordinator. I've always loved to be able to, um, give resources and, um, offer, you know, uh, comfort and empathy and sympathy and all of that stuff. And here I can do that every day.

Yeah, yeah. Are you full-time? How many, how many residents do you have at your property?

Um, so we're a smaller, um, property. Um, we're kind of like— I call it an open campus style. Um, so each resident, community member is what we like to call them, has access to the outside from their front door. So we're not a secured building, and we have 40 community members, and it just happens to be everybody that lives here is single. So I have— there's 40, but I don't have 40 on my service coordinator program.

Yeah, yeah. So not everybody chooses to work with you?

Correct. I think I have 4 that's not in my program.

Yeah. Do you still connect with them though on a regular basis, just to touch base?

Every day they know who I am.

Every day. Yeah. I think it's always a difficult thing to navigate because it's a voluntary program, right? And in other environments, like when you were a nursing home social worker, or even when you work with intellectual disabled— intellectually disabled individuals, um, you know, it's, it's a very different program in the sense that your caseload, quote unquote, um, is a voluntary, uh, caseload, and they don't have to work with you. I think it teaches us a lot about, um, Autonomy and, uh, self-determination and relationship building, right? That's a hard one. Absolutely. That's one of the hardest things I think I struggled with when I was a service coordinator, is, um, supporting that self-determination when it is, uh, clearly— yeah, yeah, what we think is they need help in, right?

Right.

Yeah. And, and finding that direct balance Um, so you've been there for 5 years, that's what you said, right?

It'll be 5 years this May. Yes.

Wow. Wow. So I'm sure you've seen a lot, you've learned a lot during that time. For sure. Yeah. What did— what have— what do you feel like has been your biggest blessing in learning how to do your job? Because it's very different than the work you were doing prior to as a social worker, right?

Um, very much.

So how did you— how did you navigate that learning curve when you came to service coordination?

Um, well, I'm not one to not ask questions. I will ask questions because that's how you learn. And I will say, Michelle, this is what I need. If you can't help me, who can, right? Um, the persistency, if that's the word I'm looking for, um, you know, of, okay, well, that road didn't work, but I have 3 more roads that I can try. Let's see if one of them will work. Mm-hmm. And, you know, just every day showing up and letting them know, hey, I am here, you know, with service coordinators. And I think just in this field of housing altogether, there's a pretty high turnover rate, you know.

Oh yeah.

And just letting them know, hey, you know what, I'm here. Things are probably going to get rough sometimes, but I'm not going anywhere. You know, these guys become my second family. I know more about them than I do my own family sometimes. Times. Um, just because I'm here and I show up every day with my best foot forward. Some days aren't the best, and I'll tell them, hey, you know what, I'm, I'm struggling today, so if you can just give me a little extra time, um, I will, you know, assist you in the best way that I can.

Yeah, I mean, that's— we're all human, right?

Absolutely.

Sometimes we just have to be open and honest about where we are and how we're coming to the day.

Yep.

Um, And if I recall correctly, you work for a property with not very many other service coordinators, is that correct?

Correct.

Or not local service coordinators? How many other service coordinators in your organization?

So there's 2 others, so there's 3 service coordinators together within the organization. Um, there's one in Newark and then one in Toledo.

Okay, okay, so all in Ohio but not super close because I know where you're from. Uh, not super close for the audience, you know, we're thinking we're you're probably an hour from the Newark service coordinator?

Uh, no, about 15 minutes.

Okay. And then the— but the Toledo one, you're a good 3 hours from— oh yeah, for sure, I would say. Absolutely. So you, you work for a smaller organization, not with a lot of, um, connection to others like you, right? That's one of the things that I think is the most difficult with the service coordinator role is that isolation that you experience as a professional. Yes. Um, We're constantly trying to combat isolation with our residents, but we don't often talk about the isolation that we feel as professionals. And so I would assume at your property it's you, a property manager, and a maintenance person. Is that all that is at that property? Correct.

Yep.

Yeah. So when you struggle, when you struggle with, you know, let's say an issue with a resident, or, you know, just understanding certain aspects of your job— let's say the Standards for Success is due, you know, who are you, how are you navigating those things, how have you navigated those things as a somewhat isolated professional within your organization?

Um, I do have a really good support team with the organization that I work with. However, they're, you know, they have different titles, so they're running, you know, 500 different ways. Um, but they've always been a phone call or a message away.

Good.

Um, and then again, I, I'm kind of a self-taught learner. When I started almost 5 years ago, the service coordinator that was at one of our other buildings in Newark, I think she was here, I started in May, I think she left July of that year. So I had maybe a week of training with her and then all this stuff is coming at me and I'm like, okay, what is this? And I relied on you guys a lot as well and poor Nina, She's the only name that I can ever remember. So she gets all of my emails, all of them. I'm like, look, listen, I was like, I don't know if this is you or not, but if not, can you forward it to the correct person? And I— that's how I've been able to do it.

Yeah.

And then when I attended my very first ASC Conference, I was— it was in California.

Okay. Anaheim.

Anaheim. Yes, absolutely wonderful. Loved it. Fell in love with it even more. I didn't even think that was possible. And I was able to make some connections there even though they weren't local. I could still reach out to them and like, hey, look, you know, like, I really don't know what direction to take this, right? Yeah. So pretty much self-taught.

I just— I'm still learning new things every day on our documentation platform. Like, oh, okay, well, I didn't know you could do that.

That's wonderful. I mean, I think, you know, you are somebody that I see, uh, you know, you bring up Nina. Nina's— all of the staff at ASC are, uh, what I like to say is that we are the service coordinator's service coordinator, right? So you guys are doing that work for residents, and how I envision our, um, team at ASC, small but mighty team, is that we're here in the same way that you are for residents. And so when you have a question and you need a resource You know, it is really important to us as a team that we have those resources available. And if we don't know it, what do we do? We go and find the right answer, right? Yeah, Just AASC. Um, Ross will love that. Um, but yeah, that's really, really important. And especially in an environment where you are one of three at an organization, it's great that you have wonderful support at your organization.

I know some service coordinators maybe the only service coordinator there. Um, and so, you know, it's really important that you have those resources readily available. Um, but you know, it's still— there's still those days that are really, really difficult. Um, and I know that, you know, it is hard not to take that work home with you sometimes, um, not to feel the stress. Why don't you— can you talk to us a little bit about, you know, some of your hardest days and how you balance your own, um, self-care, if you will, as you navigate a helper profession, which is very difficult?

Um, I'm really big on self-care. My company, um, we— they do offer a lot of PTO and vacation.

Good.

Um, I am a supervisor, so I am the supervisor over the other two service coordinators.

Oh, okay.

And I educate them, you have that time, take it off if your schedule allows it. You know, because we know we host events. So if your schedule allows it, take that time to yourself. Um, how I decompress when I go home is I just really try to leave it at the door when I leave here, and I have to tell myself on a regular basis This is independent living, self-determination. They have that right to make their own choices, whether I agree with it or not. Um, and that one's— self-determination has been a really hard one for me. Um, but out of all of the jobs that I've had, and I've been here for so long, and I have the rapport with the community members that, you know, they know that if they call to leave a voicemail and I will get back with them as soon as I can. But they also respect my time too.

And I also feel like if I can't be gone for one day and this place falls apart, what's going on? You know, what, what do we need to address? Because I'm not here to do for them, I'm here to assist them.

Absolutely. That's a huge— that was a huge learning lesson for me too. It's, you know, we want to build an environment that is not dependent upon us but is supported by us, right? And so if we walk away— and this unfortunately happens a lot with service coordination. You mentioned earlier the high turnover rate. We know that there's a high turnover rate with service coordination. There's a lot of things that go into that, um, that I'm constantly looking at and trying to think how we can help support, um, service providers so we don't see such such a high turnover rate. But one of the things that I learned when I was a service coordinator that I didn't think about until then was, you know, there's a trust that's built every time a service coordinator comes into a property. And so like your 40 residents— or community members, I apologize— your 40 community members, you know, they trust you.

They trust that you're going to be there. They know, you know, if you're going to take the day off, you're going to come back the next day. Sometimes at properties— and maybe you experienced this when you took over your property, or those that you supervise when you have turnover— you know, it takes time to build that trust. And you don't want to create an environment where if you for some reason needed to leave the position, or the person who left before you leaves everybody in a lurch and leaves everybody, um, in a, in a position where they're— they can't take care of themselves. I think it's really, really important that we create an environment that is supported but not dependent. Up on this role, right?

100%. 100%.

Was it hard for you? So you said you— one of the things I, I heard you say that was interesting to me was that you applied once, then you didn't get the job the first time, and then you saw it was posted again, which tells me that somebody came and left pretty quickly, correct? Um, did they ever hire that person?

I don't remember how long in between I had applied for the positions. Um, but this property where I'm at in Utica, knock on wood, does not have a high turnover rate with, um, any of the staff. But some of our other challenging buildings, they do. Um, you know, and I've, I've, I've seen it. I've trained the staff, and they'll— then they're there for 3 months, and, you know, it's, it's not what they thought, or, you know, like, they you know, for whatever reason, right? What—

whatever somebody's personal reason is. I think one of the things that I was kind of getting at is that the difficulty that we don't talk about, I think, sometimes, but is so there when you take on a new position like, you know, a service coordinator role, and it's so reliant on that relationship building and that trust between the professional and the— and the resident and the community members. And I know when I followed the service coordinator prior to me back in 2003, there had been quite the churn happening before me. So there was like, I think, 2 to 3 people who came and left, came and left, came and left. And so by the time I showed up, the residents there were like, we're not even going to engage because we don't trust that you're going to stay, right? And I think that's something we don't talk a lot about as a profession, is building that trust once it's been kind of broken time and time again because people come and go. Um, so it sounds like maybe not you personally and in your role, but some of the folks that you have supported or supervised have had to navigate maybe those more challenging relationships simply because of transition and the lack of trust.

Yeah, at one of our buildings in Newark, um, excuse me, when that staff person, the service coordinator, has been on Maybe 7 months. She started last August. Um, I, I did tell her that, hey, look, you know, this, this is a role. Some people think they can do it, and then they get in, and then they realize that they can't. Just know that these community members here have seen a high turnover rate, and I need someone that's going to be here day in and day out on the good days, the bad days, the sad days, the happy days, and show up for these people because they do matter. And right now they they matter because of the turnover rate. Yeah.

And they, you know, they deserve the support and they want the support. And I think as humans, we want to trust and believe those around us. And I don't blame even the people who come and go because you've got to take care of whatever is going on in your personal life, why you need to leave. Um, I just think those that come in behind others who left, there's not only the learning curve of the role and the documentation and how do I function as a service coordinator, because I think we're seeing it more and more where service coordinators who have been service coordinators before become service coordinators again, if that makes sense. Like, you know, once you've been a service coordinator, then you find another job as a service coordinator, which is wonderful, right? But there's still a big percentage of our members who this is the first time they've ever been a service coordinator. So you've got that learning curve, and you're trying to just build relationships with these residents. And if they're standoffish in any way, shape, or form, it makes it twice as hard. And so then you've got to build trust and relationship, if that makes sense.

How do you get them to trust you, right? And it's really hard to do your job if you can't get their buy-in. Um, so I'm curious about how you— how you navigate more. And you even explained, you know, you've got 4 residents who choose not to work with you. You know, what does that look like when you have those who are maybe disengaged, um, and don't want to work with a service coordinator? How do you navigate that? What does that look like for you?

I just tell them that I'm here. You know, they may not need me right now, but we don't know what 6 weeks down the road is going to look like. Um, and then a lot of my community members say, hey, I don't need you right now, but I'd rather sign that paper and not have to jump through all the hoops to get all the information that you need.

Yeah.

And then if you're there, you're there. If I need you, I need you. If I don't, I know.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think the proactiveness of you know, building relationship and completing the paperwork, because it's a big part of it, right? Documentation is essential in how we progress this profession, even if it's more of the painstaking part of it. Um, you know, I think being more proactive and knowing— even if you just know who everybody is in the building and you have a basic assessment done— is setting you up for so much more success, setting them up for success as they continue to, um, live in that— in that— at that property. Um, when we first started service coordination, it was much more reactive where, you know, someone like you would be sitting in their office kind of just waiting. If somebody needed me, you know, that's when I would jump into action. And if nobody needed me, then it was a really slow day. And I think it's important that we have, as a profession, reframed that where it's more intentional of building relationships and connections with still respecting the self-determination and the dignity of, I don't want to work with you, I don't want to share information.

Right.

Um, but yeah, I think, I think that that's a really important piece, is to be able to, you know, navigate those relationships and build that trust from the very beginning.

Yeah, they know who I am, they know what I do. Yep.

So from a, from a community perspective, we're kind of talking about that as an individual perspective, but I know that you're pretty driven as it relates to community events and community education and all of that. Talk to us a little bit about the success that you've seen over the last 5 years, what you've learned, lessons learned about bringing your community together. So you've got 40 residents, you're at a scattered site, which I, I would assume makes it a little bit more isolating. I worked at a scattered site as well where everybody has their own independent door versus a community. Um, talk to me about getting folks out, especially We're in Ohio in the winter. Um, maybe the weather doesn't always cooperate. What does that look like? How— what lessons have you learned around bringing people out into the community and doing activities?

The biggest lesson that I have learned— and the prior, um, property manager that was here, he decided that he moved to Florida and didn't take me. Um, but he, he would always say Samantha, you're doing your due diligence. Because I would host events and, you know, I would have community partners from— come in from outside and no one would show up, or I would have one or two. And then I just had to get into that mindset that, all right, let's change the, the narrative here. We had two people show up. That's two people that I was able to assist. And I have flyers. I am a huge nerd when it comes to any kind of stuff that I can hand out to the community members.

So I have a, like, a spinning wheel that has brochures and flyers and pens and all of that stuff right outside my office door. That way, if I'm not here, they know that they're able to gain access to any of that information. Along with the resource directory, you know, that we— that I have printed out and available. Um, so knowing that I'm doing the due diligence, if I have 2 people come or if I have 10, um, we've got some new community members. Um, we had, uh, 2 pass away and then 1 moved out. Um, so we had 3 vacancies and we just got those filled. So I'm hoping that with the new community members, we'll have a little bit more enthusiasm and people to come over. Um, I think this speaks great for, um, our property here, is that we have, um, 3 sisters that live up here.

Oh, cool.

Yeah, if that, if that doesn't speak what we do here as staff, I don't, you know, I don't know what, what else can. Um, so yeah, so just knowing that, you know, I'm providing that resource and self-determination is they get the choice if they want to participate or not. Um, and I just, I keep plugging away at it. Um, you know, um, with this new Just Ask platform that I've absolutely fallen in love with, you know, I, I— we started a conversation, someone started a conversation about how to keep them engaged. So we're, we're getting new ideas. Um, a service coordinator not in Ohio said that she plays, um, Blinks Slate with her community members. So what did I do? I hopped on Amazon right here on my desk and I bought that game. We haven't played it yet because we haven't had a break in our schedule, um, you know, to be able to play it.

But I'm always open for new ideas. And even if we tried, um, one of the events that no one came to was a root beer float social. Um, we'll try it again, right?

Right.

Worked last year, but maybe we'll try it this year. Um, the thing that I've noticed with my communities here anyway, um, is someone will come, say a hospice company, and they're hosting an event. I hear all the time, well, I don't want to hear them talk about hospice, right?

Right.

Okay, you know, um, They don't talk about hospice the whole entire time. They talk about hospice for 5 or 10 minutes. You know, they're providing all of the food that we're eating. That's the least that I can do for them. Um, and then we go on about our day. You know, we have a tea party every month, and a local hospice company hosts that, and she brings this huge display of food every single time, and I tell her to not outdo herself. But she doesn't listen. Um, and we have the best time.

We, we just laugh and giggle and just carry on. Yeah, I don't know if I answered your question.

No, you did. I think it's— I think, you know, I bring it up because it's, you know, it's been 23 years since I was a service coordinator, but it's still one of those things that I, I deeply feel when you guys host an event, and especially if you're bringing some from somebody from the outside community, yeah, that sometimes they say, well, we need more than this many people to even come, right? And you have no control on whether or not somebody chooses to show up that day or not. And it's sometimes— I think it's hard to not take it personal, right? If you put all this work into planning something and then nobody comes.

Yep.

Um, you know, as humans, we feel somewhat rejected in that moment and frustrated. Um, And it's difficult to discern what is it that my residents want. And every property is different, right? Every culture of a property is very different. And I know that you all struggle with— there's some buildings that are going to be super active and super great, and the residents kind of do their own thing. But then there's others that are very— especially during certain times of the year, in the winter, nobody wants to— I don't want to leave my house, right? So we have to get super creative and rely on each other as, you know, fellow service coordinators about what, what's working, what, what are things that have worked. And I've seen that conversation happening in the Just Ask community, and I'm loving it. You know, that's the vision right there. That's why that platform is so important.

That's why you guys' engagement on that platform is so important, because, you know, without each other, we're all just kind of spinning our spinning our circles or spinning our wheels, right?

Absolutely.

You're doing the same things over and over again. That's the definition of crazy, isn't it? To do the same things over and over again and expect a different result. And so sometimes we have to, we have to liven it up, or we have to think of outside the box. Um, and the best way to do that is from people who are doing the same job as us. Absolutely. Um, but yeah, I just— and, and I think it really helps to know that you're not alone because I think when you do all of that work and you try to host a root beer float, you know, event, you're like, this is gonna be so great, and then no one comes, you know, like you kind of get frustrated and you might want to throw in the towel and say, I'm not doing anything again, right? You could take it one way or the other way. And I think, like you said, you've got to change your perspective on things. And you also, you know, it's okay to feel frustrated But it's really great to commiserate with other people and then have a moment of being frustrated and then you move forward and you try and say, okay, what can I do differently? Right.

Pick up the pace to continue to grow. Yeah, I do remember that being one of the hardest things to try and figure it out. What is going to engage folks? And it depends on the population. Some people may have an active population that's still partially working.

Right.

I had residents who were the younger, um, disabled individuals who were still working, and so they weren't going to come to my activities during my work day, right? Um, but yeah, and then, you know, the education that you bring in— yes, hospice is imperative, right? The hospice— those are the resources that they may not need today, but they will need someday, and it's an important piece of education for all of them to have.

Well, not only, not only— so I, I look at it this way. Yes, my job is to keep the community members here healthy, happy, and housed. And in doing that, I'm also helping them with their family. So even though they don't need hospice, they may have a sister that's sick and they're looking for resources, and then they can say, hey, look, Samantha hosted this event, this hospice company came. Won't you give them a call? Um, and in doing that, that keeps the community member here calm, cool, and collected because they're able to give resources and not be stressed out, right?

No, that makes total sense. You know, I mean, if somebody is, is, um, dealing with the aging— we're all dealing with the aging process, right? I mean, all of us are going to face the need for resources. No matter what, no matter where you stand socioeconomically, we're all going to need resources in life. Our parents, our loved ones. And so, yeah, maybe it's not for you, but for someone else. Maybe that's the way that people can frame things. Come learn about this for others in your life. I think it's hard when we look at especially the aging process and we think about, you know, like, we don't want to age.

There's a stigma around it. I don't want to get old. All of those things. And I think when we talk about hospice, there's definitely a stigma around that topic specifically. But yeah, I do think you're right. I think it's, it's not always about what you might need. Maybe it's somebody else in your life that will need it. So the lesson and the learning could be for someone else.

And my community members here know that I say that a lot. You know, you might not need it now, but it's great that you'll be able to have that resource. You'll be able to have a name with a face. That way if you do have to call, you'll be like, hey, I remember you, you came for that event. Um, yeah, it's just, it's, it's important. Um, getting them to know that it's important can be a little challenging. Um, I have a community member here who, you know, she's like, I don't want to be involved if they're going to talk about hospice. I know I'm getting old, you know, I don't want to talk about me dying.

Like, well, we don't talk about you dying, we talk about the benefits that they offer, and not only but your family.

It's an incredible resource. It really is. It's really, um, it's upsetting that the stigma exists because it's such— I get, I get, I get why there's a stigma, but at the same time, it's such an incredible resource. Um, I'm gonna ask you— I think I've got like 1 or 2 more questions, and, uh, then I'll let you go back to your day of supporting your residents. One of the things I was thinking about, um, As we were talking just about some of the challenges with the, um, you know, bringing in programs and getting folks to attend, I'm curious what your experience, or maybe some of those that you support as far as other service coordinators, your experience has been when there's, um, conflict within your building. Have you experienced any of your residents not getting along? I remember that being something that almost cliques that happen within the building, right? So let's say Mary on this, you know, Mary's going to come to this event, but Sally over here doesn't like Mary. So then there becomes this kind of dynamic. Is that something you've dealt with where— I don't want to say bullying, but there's like clique behavior at times with this population, with all populations, let's be real.

Um, but when we all live together in a community, there can be that tension that exists? And then how do you help navigate that? Or do you get involved or do you just kind of stay out of it?

Um, I can't really say that I experienced that too much here. I mean, that's great. We do have some that fight like sisters and then, you know, they won't talk to each other for a couple of weeks., and then they'll come out like, well, she said this and she said that. And then part of our job is just for us to listen.

To listen, right?

And then, well, how does that make you feel? I can see that that makes you really frustrated. And it's just a lot of education. I can remember one time up here, Sally came and said, you know, just because my door is open at 5 o'clock in the morning doesn't mean that I want company. Okay, well, have you told Susie, you know, that, you know, like, how is Susie supposed to know if you don't communicate with her? Um, so I do a lot of that. Um, one, at one of our other properties where I was covering when we were down, service coordinator, um, a little more of the clickiness um, and you know, Susie doesn't like Johnny, and you know, Johnny doesn't like Susie, and Susie don't like men, and you know, um, yeah, all of it. I just tend to— I mean, they're going to have— they're going to say stuff, um, but if they bring it into the community room and they start to cause an issue, I, you know, like, hey, look, that's not the time nor the place.

Um, yeah.

I can't really say that. I've, I've had a couple that I've kind of like, they've gotten way off the deep end on a conversation and I had to kind of reel it back in. Like, you know, like, we can talk about that in my office when we're done. Um, just being, you know, not stern, but, um, what's the word I'm looking for?

Um, like, hey, look, redirecting, having your own boundaries. Yeah, having community. Guidelines, all of those things. Absolutely. And I think, I think the biggest point that you just made, that's the most important, that everyone should think— everyone should probably just, you know, and I'm sure that's how everybody responds— is sometimes you just want somebody to listen to you, right? Absolutely. Some people just like to vent and they just want somebody to listen. Um, but it is also exhausting for a service coordinator to be the one who has to hear kind all of that. Yes.

On a regular basis and not get involved.

Right.

Right. Not say, all right, you know what, you've been complaining about what we'd want to say, right, versus what we have to say because we're professionals. Um, and that's really why I think it's important that we have the connection to others like us, because you can freely talk about those frustrations, right? When you're at a conference and you're like, somebody brings up this topic, I'm sure that you could have a whole side conversation about this threat. And, you know, uh, it is a— that can be a very exhausting portion of this job that not a lot of people talk about, is the personal challenges that, that create— are created just for living in community.

Yes. And being, you know, being the listeners that we have to be for our job, like you said, you know, that, that can be very draining. Um, there's been times to where I haven't even gotten out of my car and they're coming, they're waiting for you. Oh yeah, outside in the cold, in the rain.

This is going to be a day. This is going to be a fun day.

So I, I talked with my supervisor. I'm like, hey, look, like something, something's got to give. Um, so I said it for all of my staff that, um, and myself, from 8:00 to 8:30, we have our door shut. We're responding to emails, phone calls, messages, whatever we need to do, documentation that we didn't get done the day before. And I stress to my staff, take that 30 minutes for your lunch. Shut the door, lock it. Someone comes knocking, put a sign up, lunchtime. Take that time because you are going to need it on some days.

And then the same thing from 4 to 4:30, the door shut, there's a note on the door. The community members here know during those times that I, you know— now obviously if it's an emergency, that's a different story, but that gives me time to get my day prepared in the morning, have that time to myself at lunchtime because we're putting out small fires all day, and then decompressing at the end of the day so I don't take it home me, right?

Yeah, I love that. That's fantastic advice. Uh, good boundary setup, right?

100%. And I know I've said 100% a lot, but you are true in everything that you're saying.

I just think that it's like, you know, we have to— in order— I mean, it's the same with kids, right? In order to take care of ourselves, we have to fill our cup first, and then— or put the— what is the oxygen mask on first, and then we give it to somebody else. You cannot help someone else if you're running at zero, on empty, every single day. And just generally having to talk, deal with other people, especially maybe you're not an extrovert, right? Like there's a whole topic around introverts and extroverts and how draining that can be if you are not naturally an extroverted person.

Yeah.

Um, so that's great advice. That's great advice for everyone who's listening to this, is to make sure you create those boundaries. And the other thing I really love that you said, and I've heard this from a previous podcaster or person who's on the podcast as well, um, advocating for yourself, right? Saying to your supervisor or your property manager or whomever it is at your property, hey, this is what I need in order to not burn out. And I think the more that we do that, the longer of tenure we'll see of service coordinators. The more we can be vocal in a respectful, professional way of saying, okay, here's the realities. You may not understand my job. You may not understand completely what the intimate details are that I'm working on, But here's the reality. I'm hearing a lot of things.

It, you know, I get out of— as soon as I pull in, there's people waiting for me. I need this time in order to make sure that I am mentally sound to do my job and I'm taking care of myself because it's so important. It's so— and take PTO, like you said. We have to prioritize those things no matter what your profession is, no matter what you're doing. Um, we get one, one, one chance at this life. And we've got to take care of ourselves as much as we're taking care of everyone around us. And as helpers, it is exhausting to take care of everyone else.

It is. It really is. I always joke because I say that I'm meeting my water intake, um, because I can actually drink water to be able to use the bathroom. To where when I was in a nursing home, as soon as my feet—

yeah, that's true.

You know, like, I, I, I couldn't stop. Like, who has time to drink water? Like, Water? What is that? One of the service coordinators on the Just Ask platform had posted this morning a little video clip. He had posted a presentation, but in that presentation was a video clip, and I watched it and sat in here and probably laughed. I mean, like, full belly laugh. Okay, it was a laugh. For probably 10-15 minutes about this video clip that he had shared. And it was about, um, what it— a day— I, I shared it with the rest of my, my company and said, the true life and the day of a resident service coordinator. And this clip was talking about herding cats.

Yeah, it's true. It was hilarious. Why that was so funny to me, I don't know, but it was—

it's Friday. Because it's a Friday.

Right. It was great. And I even messaged him back. I was like, that was fantastic.

I love it. I'll have to go find that. I haven't seen it yet. Oh, that's great. Well, Samantha, it has been wonderful talking with you. I really appreciate this conversation and everything you do for your residents and for the service coordinator profession. You've been amazing watching you interact and engage on the platform and support your colleagues. And I'm looking forward to seeing you in Austin.

I think I saw that you're coming.

Yes, I am.

Yeah, conference. Yeah, we're, we're actively developing it as we speak, so hopefully, uh, it'll be one to remember.

But, and I think I even shared that on the plot, that Just Ask platform, you know, that just the conferences are great, but we're slam-packed with learning throughout the whole entire day that sometimes we don't really get the time to, you know, talk with other service coordinators. And this Just Ask platform has just been the answer that we needed. And I don't know if you were on before, um, but I had told Ross and the other gentleman that was on, um, we needed this 5 years ago. So it's nice to know that this is here now because I think I just seen someone had just started their service coordinator 3 days ago. 3 days ago.

Yeah, shout out. I think her name was Jaden, right? And she's getting so much love and support. Can you imagine how great that—

oh, I'm so glad that 5 years ago I probably wouldn't have as many gray hairs.

But yes, yeah, yeah, you know, I mean, I think Ross said this, but the, the premise behind all of this was, interestingly enough, COVID. So before you became a service coordinator, we had to transition to conferences. It was right when I started this job, which— oh wow, welcome to, uh, this role. Um, we had, you know, COVID hit, we couldn't in-person conferences. And so we had to immediately shift because we still wanted to provide the education to virtual conferences, which turned out to be phenomenal. But the biggest thing that I saw happening was exactly what's happening right now in Just Ask, where people are having conversations. And honestly, it's even— you know, I hear what you're saying, and I know that there's a ton of education, there's a lot of structure, and that's so important at a conference. And we're trying to weave in more of that natural networking But the other piece of that is, is how we all interact as, as people today in today's society is most of us are more comfortable chatting behind a screen than coming up to somebody in person.

And so you see more of that organic conversation having, you know, starting there. And the hope was then when you're at conference, you're like, hey, you know what, I want to meet up with you. Let's find each other, right?

Because I already have like actually people that I want to meet.

Yeah. And so I think it just really helps versus— there's so many people at conference. I know I, you know, go up to people and talk to them all the time, but last year I was trying to matchmake, you know, hey, you're a new person, hey, I know that you're from this state, let me find other people, I know other people. But this allows that to happen prior to getting to conference and then allows that conversation to continue. And frankly, not everybody gets to come to conference, you know. The ones that get to come are the lucky ones because they have the funding and they have the ability, um, but not everybody gets to. And so hopefully this continues to build, uh, so that others will get to have the opportunity to connect. Yep.

So I love it. I can't wait to see where it takes us.

Yeah, me too, me too. I'm so proud. I'm proud of the team for getting it out there and proud of you all for jumping in there. So, all right, well, it has been lovely. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. And thank you so much for joining me in this conversation.

Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.