If you care about affordable housing, finding fulfillment in your career, or just love hearing the stories of those making a difference, you don’t want to miss this episode.

Welcome back to Heartbeat of Housing! I’m Michelle Voke, and in this episode, I have the pleasure of sitting down with the reigning Service Coordinator of the Year, Landon Butler—brought to life by Corry Michaelis in this conversation.

Join me as I chat with Landon about his winding and inspiring journey from earning a degree in healthcare administration to discovering his true calling as a service coordinator at St. Mary Manor.

We talk about what it was like for him to step into a building that hadn’t had a service coordinator for months, and the creative ways he rebuilt trust, community, and connection—whether through food-filled events like National Donut Day or simply spending the time to build genuine relationships with residents.

Landon opens up about the challenges of burnout, how important it is to advocate for yourself as much as for your residents, and the impact of building strong connections both inside and beyond our buildings.

This is an honest, heartfelt conversation about the highs, the challenges, and the meaning we find working in this field—one resident, and one relationship, at a time.

Here are my top 3 takeaways from the episode:

• Advocacy Goes Both Ways: Landon reminds us that while advocating for residents is at the heart of the job, advocating for your own support and mental health is just as essential. Speaking up about burnout or support needs ensures you can continue to serve at your best.
• Relationships Matter More Than Paperwork: The foundation of impactful service coordination is genuine connection—taking the time to know residents well beyond forms and checkboxes, and building trust through conversation and meaningful activities (bonus: never underestimate the power of donuts or a good bingo game!).
• Community Partnerships Amplify Impact: Landon's success comes in part from reaching outside the building—actively networking to bring in local resources, programs, and intergenerational events that enrich residents’ lives and foster real community.

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.

https://uppbeat.io/t/pecan-pie/casino-funk

License code: YDKLEHRMWAOORXTJ

https://uppbeat.io/t/matrika/big-switch

License code: 3MWJFNOT5U8N7BXB

https://uppbeat.io/t/albert-behar/puzzle-pieces

License code: ZFIYWOTBBZJNO81U

Copyright 2026 American Association of Service Coordinators

Foreign.

Welcome back to the Heartbeat of Housing, where we're sharing the stories of those working to keep residents and affordable housing all healthy, happy and housed today.

I am so excited to have a conversation with the reigning service coordinator of the year, Landon Butler.

Landon, thank you so much for joining me today.

Thank you for having me.

I feel truly honored to be part of such a great organization and even better podcast.

Yeah.

So we are so happy to have you join us.

And one of the big things that the part of this podcast that I really wanted to do is just for folks to get to know each other in a more in depth and intimate way.

And so today we're just going to spend some time talking, talking about you, talking about your journey in service coordination and all of the fun that you get to have every single day.

So let's start off with you telling the audience a little bit about yourself and how you ended up as a service coordinator.

Well, just a little bit about me, of course.

I'm Landon.

I'm from Henderson, Tennessee.

I am 30 years old.

I am married.

Got married in October of last year.

Congratulations.

So a house full.

It is beautiful.

Chaos.

As I tell everybody.

The oldest one is seven, so they are all youngsters.

Outside of work, I love singing, I love going to church, I love serving in my church.

It's just something that I'm very passionate about and of course, you know, playing outside with my kids.

Yeah.

Not right now, though.

How's the weather for you?

Probably not very warm.

Yeah, we just, we just got over the flu in our house, so we had to spend a week inside with nobody going outside.

So everybody was pretty stirred crazy.

Starting back on Monday this week, getting back into the routine of things.

But everybody's healthy and happy now, so

that's good to go.

That's good.

What was the journey to get you here?

I am very faith driven and the best answer that I can give is nothing but God.

And I was there for about eight months and it just, I wasn't getting what I needed.

So I ended up leaving Clarksville, moving back to Jackson, and I started working as a public relations director for a pharmacy.

Okay.

And trying to work my way, you know, up the, up the totem Pole.

You got to start somewhere.

So I started with public relations, and after realizing that I hated public relations.

Kudos to all of the public relations people out there, because y'.

All.

Y' all are saints.

I can't do it.

I like.

I like my seniors.

I don't like people my age.

So I actually went back to working at a hospital as a patient care tech, taking care of open heart surgery patients.

Oh, wow.

And I was there for two years, and then I went into business, office management.

The opportunity kind of just fell in my lap.

From there, I became the interim executive director of the assisted living facility.

And I was the interim executive director for about three months.

And I was looking around like, where is the meaning in this?

Yeah, it was looking at spreadsheets.

It was looking at numbers.

It was looking at attendance records for employees.

It was answering phone calls at 2 o' clock in the morning because somebody's paycheck was wrong.

It was all hours of the night, all hours of the day.

And I was just like, no salary is worth not having peace of mind.

Right?

No salary.

So from there, I actually went to work at the state as a social worker.

Okay, as.

Or I say social worker, but a case manager, but going into people's homes.

The AAA D. Area Aging on Aging and Disability.

Sorry, Area Agency on Aging and Disability, as a.

As a caseworker.

And was there for three months and a position came open for the financial manager for the southwest region.

And I was like, well, let me give being one of the big dogs one more shot, you know?

And I was in that position for about eight months.

And I went to my director and I was like, look, I'm miserable.

Yeah.

People, I don't know what I'm gonna do.

But if you can't put me back in case management, where I have interactions with people where I feel like I'm helping, I'm gonna have to leave.

So ultimately, they.

They didn't have a position open, so I ended up leaving and I left there and actually went to work at a factory.

And I was at work at a factory for about a week.

And St. Mary Manor, which is where I work, called me.

And of course, I was putting in applications left and right.

I mean, because I was.

I knew that factory is not where I wanted to.

To end up, because to me, there is no.

There's no service there because I'm not interacting with, again, people serving people.

St. Mary Manor called, and I was like, well, yeah, I'll come for an interview.

What did I apply for?

You know, I genuinely didn't know.

Yeah.

And they were like, well, we got your application for service coordinator.

And I was like, what's that?

I never would apply for something like that because I don't even know what that is.

I have no idea.

So anyway, looked up what a service coordinator was, and I was like, okay, so it's similar to social work, you know, maybe a little bit more in depth, but it's similar to social work.

That's something that I can get behind.

I knew St. Mary was a.

A senior living property, and I was like, well, we'll give it a chance.

I'll just go to the interview and see what they say.

And did the interview.

And two days later, they called me and were like, we want to offer you the position.

And I was like, all right, let's.

Let's hit the ground running.

So that was my journey to service.

Becoming a service coordinator.

Didn't know who I applied for or what I applied for.

And honestly went back into my indeed, because that's what I was using.

And I didn't see an application in indeed that I had applied.

So I don't know if it was like, it popped up on, like, there.

This person may be a good match for you for this position because of their history.

I know it tries to.

To send people like that to companies, you know, when they do searches of employees that match that.

So I don't know if that's how I got here or if it was just God filling out the application for me and sending it to them, but that was.

That's how I ended up here.

I never thought that I would be in.

In this position, but it sounds like

you're meant to be in this position, though, right?

So grateful to this position.

I mean, from day one, my compassion was restored, my fulfillment of service was restored, my happiness was restored.

I mean, I had.

Trying to find your place, you know, in your career.

You know, it's a part of who you are.

It's.

It's an extension of who you are and my belief and.

And I needed to find meaning.

And like I said, from day one, I instantly knew that this was.

This was my home.

This was my forever home.

I mean, I came right in, and the residents love me, I love them, and the rest is history.

That's fantastic.

Windy road to get there.

How long have you been there now?

August will be three years.

Three years as a service coordinator.

I actually take my PSC exam next week to have the official accreditation for it, but.

Yeah, well, I'm excited to hear the results.

I I have a feeling I know how you'll perform, but I'll.

I'll be excited to hear when you become the official psc.

Thank you for taking that and dedicating your career to the, you know, your time, to this profession when you.

So your story is very much like mine where, you know, what is a service coordinator?

And most people, I think that's when we get into this role, there's a question of what is a service coordinator.

Talk to me about, you know, so was there a service coordinator there before you?

Were you filling a position that had already been there?

Okay, so there was some.

There was a.

There was a young lady here before me.

She had actually graduated with her master's in social work, and she.

I think she went to work for Department of Child Services.

Okay.

Yeah.

So there was some.

And you.

You work for a company that has multiple service coordinators.

So the structure was there for you when you stepped into your role.

There was some guidance and, you know, guide rails of how to do the.

How to do the role.

Talk to me about that first week.

What was it like for you going from directly from a factory into the role of service coordinator?

Honestly, it was a whirlwind.

I mean, I was met.

My first day, I was met with TennCare applications.

I was met with some Medicare Advantage questions.

I was met with some financial assistance applications that needed to be done for a hospital in our area.

I mean, just right out of the gate, and I was like, I don't know what any of this means.

I know how to do the 10Care application because my son was on TennCare.

But everything else, we're googling, we're figuring it out, we're reading.

It was a lot of reading, a lot of studying, a lot of going back and reading again.

But the first week was.

I mean, it was.

It was a complete whirlwind because they had been without a service coordinator, I believe, for like, six months.

Okay.

So, I mean, everything, you know, had fallen to the wayside because somebody couldn't be here full time.

So it was figuring out what.

What fires to put out first, essentially, because these people have been without a service coordinator.

Yeah.

For such a long time.

Stories like that always make me think of the buildings like yours that don't have a service coordinator.

Right.

And how the residents are navigating their life without the support.

So just six months.

Look at all the things that piled up for the residents that they were struggling to navigate.

And then you come in, thank goodness.

Right.

And now they have that person

Several people that had already lost their tenncare.

Oh my goodness, they had lost their extra help benefit through Social Security because they didn't know how to reapply or um, I mean they, they were, they were desperate for help.

Yeah.

In that time and I.

Who did you rely on during those, those first days?

Where was your support coming from as you were learning?

My quality assurance, definitely.

Rachel, she was, she was definitely a lifeline.

Of course, the people that trained me, Steve Beasley and Tina Sofia, they are with our organization.

Um, they were great at training, showing me how to do the ask assessment, how to navigate ask, how to figure out what was due, when it was due, that kind of thing.

They were, they were great, great resources to have at that time.

And Google, I mean, honestly, I mean those, those were, those are my outlets.

I mean I was able to rely a little bit on my property manager, but she wasn't familiar.

She never had to do this position.

She never had to fill in or anything.

So I mean she was, she was limited on her knowledge.

She just instructed me like, this is how the last one did it.

This is what the expectations are with the residents.

Take it and make it yours.

Yep.

So I did.

Absolutely.

Thank God you had the quality assurance and the training staff and the support network at Wesley.

That is such a phenomenal setup for a new service coordinator coming in.

And I think, you know, it sets you up for success from the very beginning.

I know that, you know, at Ask, we think about all the service coordinators that start this job and they're isolated and they don't know anyone and they may be the only one within their organization.

And so a big, you know, goal of ours is how do we recreate what Wesley created for you so that service coordinators don't feel so isolated and feel so alone from the very beginning.

So that's wonderful to hear that you had that support from the very beginning.

How big is your property?

How many residents?

149 units total.

And it's just 152.

We have one service coordinator that comes over here and helps me once a week.

Okay, but outside of that.

Yeah, it's, it's just me.

How's that relationship?

Once a week is that person have more another property somewhere else and they just come over once a week to help you?

Yes, she's, she has, she's at her property.

Her property is a, I think a 40 unit property.

Okay.

So.

And it's just right across town.

So I mean she jumps over here one day a week just to Help with any assessments that are behind.

She kind of has her own caseload of, I say, lower acuity people, people that don't necessarily need as much, people that are not.

Don't have a lot of medical complexities.

I manage those because I do have a pretty extensive medical background, Working in the hospital and being a patient care tech, being a cna, and I mean, I've been with geriatrics since I was 18 years old, and now I'm 30, you know, overall through the years, so I try to keep those close to me because I know.

Not that she can't do it, but she doesn't have the extensive knowledge.

She just graduated college.

Okay.

Okay.

Yeah.

So I always think that's an interesting dynamic that's not talked about a lot is when there are multiple service coordinators or when there's, you know, a team effort across a property and how that's divvied up or how that's organized.

And I know over the years, when I did quality assurance for years, and you saw different models of how service coordinators figure that out, and it sounds like you guys have figured out a really good system so that you get the support you need, but yet the residents are still know that you're the one that's the main service coordinator.

Once a week doesn't really, you know, compete that much with time.

But at the same time, I think it's always important to understand, you know, for the residents to understand that relationship and for you and.

And your teammate to really have a good working relationship to support the residents the best that you can.

It sounds like you're really fortunate to have her.

We changed up that model a little bit this year as to where.

Last year, she was just in charge of doing their assessments, and I took the.

The other appointments that they may have needed.

Throughout the week.

We actually had a meeting with our.

Our regional director and our quality assurance.

Yeah.

And I told them.

I was like, I absolutely love what I do, but if I go at this rate, at this speed at right now, I'm gonna be burned out in about five years.

Yeah.

Good.

For vocalizing, we need to look at changing that model a little bit.

So we sat down and we.

We had a meeting, and we created it.

We created each of us a permanent caseload, and anytime it's not a emergent or pertinent issue, they go to their service coordinator.

They come to me.

I'm their service coordinator.

We tried to really set that boundary for our residents so that I could be alleviated a little bit, because it is.

I mean, having the medically complex individuals is more work than having the minimal acuity, right?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

It's stratifying the residents, knowing who needs you, who may need you the most when you think about the acuity or when you think about those residents and who might need more support.

Are you thinking about the isolation factor as well, with residents?

That's played into that, I'm assuming.

Yeah.

Yes.

Because that's a big part of it.

If somebody's completely isolated, their acuity may be even higher simply just because there's no one else to support.

Right?

Yes.

How do you guys go about knowing who should be in which caseload?

How do you determine that?

Through their assessments or what data are you looking at?

Yes, there's several factors that I looked at when I was helping create the caseloads.

Number one is their assessments.

What are their ADL's and their IADLs?

Can they do everything by themselves?

Do they need transportation?

Do they need transportation and help taking a shower?

Do they need help with all of the above?

You know, do they.

Should they even be a part of the service coordinator program?

In essence, because that is an option.

They are allowed to, you know, refuse the service, and that's perfectly fine.

But so their assessment.

I looked at their.

Obviously their isolation, their.

You know, how often are we getting out?

How often are we communicating with other people?

You know, building.

Building companionship with other people?

Or are we sitting in our apartment seven days a week and only come down twice a week to check our mail and not speaking to anybody?

Of course, medical complexities and, I mean, overall, just relationship building, that was one of the.

My main focuses when I came to this property was I want to have a genuine relationship with these people.

I want them to know that I am here.

I want them to know that I care.

I want them to.

That even on their worst day, when it may be something, you know, like a lease violation or something like that, like, yes, you're in trouble, but I'm still here to support you.

Right, Right.

You know, relationship was huge.

Huge, Huge, huge for me.

So I spent probably the first six months, you know, while doing assessments and stuff, I mean, just throwing activities out there, throwing, you know, services out there.

We had Cinco de Mayo party.

We had National Donut Day.

We had National Chocolate Cake Day, National Cookie Day.

We had, you know, you were throwing food to get them out to build that relationship.

Yeah.

And my assessments, my first year, I. I intentionally made them last at least an hour, if not more, so that I was not Just asking the questions.

I wanted to know, what did you do for work?

I want to know, how many kids do you have?

I want to know, do you still talk to those kids?

I want to know everything that I can about you.

Did you start, you know, did you serve in the military?

What branch?

How long, you know, did you.

Were you ever deployed?

You know, any.

Anything that I could get to know about them, Even that wasn't on the assessment.

I wanted to them to know that I was genuinely interested in them.

I wasn't just here to push paperwork.

I think that is such an important factor.

And it's something that I always say when I'm talking about service coordination out in the world, that you guys are the relationship builders.

I mean, it's the main premise of what you guys are doing every day, and it's at the core of the importance of the work.

Right.

You need to be the relationship builders.

You need to build those relationships amongst yourself and the residents.

And I think, thank you for sharing that.

About even the assessment or the intake form, making it conversational and not just a, you know, check the box.

I need to ask these questions real quick, and then you can keep going.

Make it a relationship and relationship building tool and knowing exactly what's on the form.

So it's more of a conversation versus, you know, I'm looking like, what would happen when we go to the doctor, right?

They're gonna ask us a series of questions.

They're gonna be at a computer, and we're not making eye contact.

I think it's really important for service coordinators to build.

Take the time, like you said, the first six months, and really build those relationships.

And then as time goes on, that conversation just continues.

Right.

Because you've built the foundation with those residents.

That's.

That's brilliant.

And then, of course, you said, feed them a lot, right.

Throw as much food at them as possible.

I heard donuts, chocolate cakes.

I'm there.

Yes, yes, absolutely.

That was.

That was another way, like I said, I.

Because I've worked with senior citizens for so long, I know that food is the way to their heart, especially sweets.

Yeah.

But that.

That is.

That is how I got them out.

And another thing with the relationship building that I.

That I really focused in on is I printed all of the assessments out, and it's something minor that people wouldn't think about.

But when you go into an apartment with a computer, with a laptop, and you're sitting there on your laptop, staring at your screen, to me, there's a disconnect.

Yeah.

Because there is a screen between you and the resident as to where if there's paper, you can sit down with a packet of paper and, you know, still make eye contact with them and slowly check things off and write things down, you know, and then come back to the computer and put it all together and organize it and, you know, categorize it, however it may be.

But to me, that was just.

And it still is.

A very important part of the communication is not having technology sitting in front of you.

You're dating me.

We just had paper.

Yes, well, and also with this generation, I mean, we're not quite.

We're just now starting to see the baby.

The baby boomers, right?

Yeah, right.

The generation before baby boomers, they don't.

Computers and technology was not introduced until the end of their career or after they retired.

Right.

You know, and they don't know how to use them.

They're intimidated by them.

They feel like it's.

A lot of them feel like it's disrespectful.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

It's cutting that.

It's.

It's getting into that boundary of, well, you just care about your laptop.

No, no.

And that's what I didn't want, you know, that that may transition and that that need not need that.

That relationship style may change with the coming in generations, you know, that are more familiar with technology and they don't view it as intimidating or disrespectful.

Yeah, it would save paper.

But ultimately, you know, that's not.

I. I don't care about paper.

I care about the person.

So, yeah, yeah, you've got to meet each generation and each individual where they are.

Right.

That's basic.

One on one, how do you build a relationship?

How do you make that connection?

And I think, you know, I agree.

By the time, you know, my generations, you know, living in affordable housing, we'll probably want to just fill out the paperwork ourselves.

I mean, as.

As people are living in society today, nobody wants to have con, it feels like.

And so what will it look like then?

But I think that's the beauty of this position, because at the end of the day, we all want that connection, we all want that relationship.

And especially those that are aging in place right now in our affordable housing, it's so imperative to build those relationships and be that trusted person.

You know, I mean, I've had Other conversations where maybe you don't know everything, maybe you're not going to figure out exactly how to solve their problem, but you're going to go back to your office and you're going to figure it out in some way or another.

Right?

You're going to walk away with a solution for them, which is so important in building that trust.

So you said you started to do a lot of activities to bring them out and about.

Talk to me about some of the best things that you've brought into your building.

Some of those, you know, unique, creative.

I heard Cinco de Mayo party.

What else have you done?

I'm sure that you've done a lot of fun things.

Oh, yes, we.

We, of course, we celebrate all the national holidays.

Valentine's Day, we do a Easter celebration, but we focus it more on the Easter bunny, obviously, because we don't want to step on any toes and we don't want to, you know, be disrespectful to anybody.

So we make it more about, you know, the fun Easter eggs we've done Easter egg hunts for.

My big thing this year that I.

That I'm working towards is doing a Halloween trunk or treat and invite all of the surrounding community to bring their kids to our facility and go door to door in our facility and do candy give out.

Yeah, that's something that I was planning on doing last year.

I always try to do a big Veterans Day celebration.

Veterans are very important to me.

They.

They're very close to my heart.

So I always try to throw.

Throw them something big, give them an award, give them, you know, this last year we did Stanley cups and a placard and it had their name and their.

What branch they were in and how long they served.

It was a glass placard kind of like on a smaller scale of the.

The Ask Awards, a lot smaller scale.

But I wanted them, you know, to feel important.

That's wonderful.

Especially the, the.

The widows as well.

So it wasn't just veterans, it was the widows of veterans as well.

So everybody got recognized.

Oh, gosh.

Big Fourth of July.

We do two or three cookouts a year where we're out on our.

We have a front, like, patio area that's pretty large.

Me and, me and the manager, we get out there and we grow hot dogs and hamburgers and we eat out.

We set up tables outside and we just, just congregate and enjoy each other.

We do that two or three times a year.

Normally first of spring, then one in the summer, and then normally one in the fall.

Towards the end of the year where we play games and cornhole and we will do bingo.

Residents love bingo.

I don't care where they are, they love bingo.

You can never go wrong with having bingo on the calendar.

Yeah, different workout routines, different.

Different agencies coming in and doing workout programs with them.

They have really enjoyed that, especially the Zumba program.

They absolutely loved getting up and, and doing.

Well, not getting up, but doing chair Zumba.

You know, they didn't think that that was something that could be done, but you can definitely dance sitting in your chair.

I would say bringing in an instructor to do.

To teach them how to use our gym equipment because we have an on site gym and that' was never done.

So we set aside an hour, two days a week for like two weeks, if I'm not mistaken, to show the residents that were interested in the equipment, to show them how to use it properly and not hurt themselves.

But some of the other things.

Chair volleyball, they love chair volleyball.

That was, that was a huge hit.

Where do you find the folks to come in to do all of these activities or do these exercise classes?

I'm sure that falls on your shoulders to make those connections out into the community and bring folks in.

What does that look like for you?

Well, I am very blessed in that aspect.

So I have a lot, especially in the medical fields with home health agencies and stuff.

Oh yeah.

I already had a rapport with them from working at the hospital.

So I was able to bring those, that, those resources with me.

And then working at the area agency on Asian Disability.

They are a wealth of knowledge and resources.

And I was on the interagency council there.

And I mean, you meet people all the time.

So I was able to bring those resources in.

It's really about being involved in your community, not just your, not just your facility, but in your community as a whole.

Letting people know that you're there, that was one thing.

That's one thing that I've heard the most stepping into this role was they didn't even know that this place had a social worker because nobody prior to had been out in the community the way that I had pushed myself out there.

I mean, I was pushing.

I was pushing doors open.

I don't care that you don't want me in here.

I'm coming in.

How are you?

You know, we're gonna work.

I want your business card.

We're gonna do some activities.

Have you come in and do a program or something.

Yeah, you know, that's just.

That was my personality, because ultimately it was best serving the residents.

And for sure, I'm gonna do what being an advocate.

Right.

To the best of liability.

Yeah.

Being an advocate and a relationship builder, I think that's the thing that we don't talk about enough, is that, yes, the relationships with the residents are imperative, but then the relationships outside of that building are also equally of importance.

Right.

So you're doing all of these things, but it can't all be you doing those things.

You need to have, you know, an extension of you coming in from the community to support your residents.

You can help them identify the needs and connect them to the resources.

But if you don't have anyone on the other side of that connection, then what happens?

Right.

And so those relationships are imperative.

Yes.

I just thought of a couple of other programs.

We had the St. Mary's Church, which is right beside us, because used to own us before Wesley Living bought us.

The St. Mary has a group of homeschool students, and the homeschool students come and put on an Easter program and a Christmas program.

And that is one of my highest, highest attended programs that I do because it's kids, they come down and they love, and it's kids of all ages from the age of five all the way up to 18.

You know, they're all homeschooled.

And then North Park Studios, they come and do theater here at the facility.

They do improv, and they do different little skits.

And those.

Those are three.

The.

The Christmas program, Easter program, and then North Park Studios coming twice a year.

Those are my highest attended programs because.

And they actually reached out to me.

I didn't know that they existed.

Yeah, they reached out to me and was like, hey, look, we.

We heard you, that you're there.

We want to give you this opportunity.

And.

Absolutely.

When you coming?

My residents would love this.

Yeah, so.

And the kids love it, I'm sure.

Intergenerational anything, just as it melts my heart, I love everything about the intergenerational piece.

And I think that's so important that, you know, we have an obligation, especially those working with old adults, you know, to make sure that we are connecting children to see this generation, to see that, you know, they may not have grandparents, they may not have great grandparents anymore.

And I think there's something.

There's something so beautiful to be learned about the aging process.

And independent housing is such a different environment than, you know, a nursing home, perhaps.

And, you know, where.

Where I think my generation, anyway, I Can only speak for myself.

You know, what I, what I related aging to growing up was a nursing.

And I think when you walk into an affordable housing, independent living environment, it is a totally different.

You see, you are actually seeing people age the way that they want to age.

They're choosing how they want to age.

And that's in community.

Right.

And that's very different than what I interpreted aging to be when I was growing up.

So, yeah, I love that.

The intergenerational piece is phenomenal.

Yes.

So as we continue to have this conversation, the one thing that I keep thinking about is, you know, you had this winding road, you know, that, that led you to service coordination and you take your test for PSC next week.

What does the future look like for, for you?

Where do you see yourself?

How does this continue to fulfill you?

The biggest part of me hopes that I just stay where I am.

Yeah, that's good.

Because Wesley living, I mean, they are such an incredible organization.

And I don't say that just because I work for them.

They genuinely are.

If I need to take an hour of PTO to go watch a school program, guess what?

I get to do it.

If my kid wakes up with a 103 degree fever, they okay, let us know when you're coming back.

You know, they are just very, they're very, very family oriented.

And family is, is my number one priority.

If you can't work with my family, then I can't work for you.

And that's just how I view things.

Because my parents, unfortunately, they, they both had to work full time jobs and their jobs were not forgiving.

You know, if your kid was sick, it was like, okay, can they stay by themselves?

You know, that's just, that was just that generation and that generation of management.

And that was one thing that I was like.

And I know that they couldn't help it, you know, because they had the both.

But I was like, I don't want my kids to have to do that.

So even if I take a lower paying job, even if, you know, I take on more of a quote unquote workload, if I am able to be at everything for my kids, then that's what I'll do.

Of course, I was talking with the president of our organization.

We had a zillennial meeting, gen zillennial crossover meeting.

That's fantastic.

I love that he met with each generation because we had our annual company meeting.

And that was one of the things that was pointed out most was the company needs to prepare for the future.

Yeah, absolutely.

I love this.

You need to be, you need to understand what the future is.

The future generations are wanting what their expectations are.

And that was.

Sorry, I lost my train of thought.

It's okay.

So we had, we, we had that meeting and I pointed that out, you know, that that was one of the things that kept me with this company.

Not only did I love my job, my job, but I absolutely love the family orient orientated, you know, the genuine passion that you feel when you do call your manager or your RAM and say, look, I've got this going on, I've got to be late, or I've got a, you know, whatever the case may be.

And there's no, well, you just had to use PTO last week or, you know, something like that.

So part of me hopes that I'm exactly where I am.

But the president pointed out, he was like, you know, you, you need to keep your mind open to growth.

And I do keep my mind open to growth because I'm always willing to learn and grow, but I'm not willing to compromise family.

What you're doing.

Yeah.

Or family.

Right.

Yeah.

And I think the one cool thing about service coordination, you know, we always talk about career paths and things of that nature.

Right.

So you're going to get your PSC and you know, you know, what's next?

Is always a question.

And I think sometimes, and I just asked you this and it's like, sometimes there doesn't need to be a what's next.

Right.

Maybe we found our place.

Maybe this is it.

There is no what's next.

Yeah.

And that's okay.

That's beautiful.

I know we've got service coordinators who've been doing this work for 20, 30 years.

And as long as you, I mean, I'm proud of you for having the courage and the wherewithal to say, hey, you know what?

I'm going to burn out if we don't get some help.

Right.

If I can't get some support in some way, I'm going to burn out.

And having the ability to vocalize that and put that support in place for your mental health and your ability to perform your job at the best of your ability, that's a phenomenal thing.

And for an organization to do it, to really hear you and want to support you, in addition to everything else you just said about the family oriented, I absolutely love that he had generation meetings.

That's so cool.

And I love to talk about the different generations and how we're all.

And as a proud zillennial, I Love that there was a carve out for them.

Yes.

But one of the things about service coordination, I think when I look at service coordination and what the stories I've heard, obviously I only stayed as a service coordinator for two years, so I can't speak for this myself, but the one really beautiful thing about service coordination that keeps it fresh and new is that the population changes over time.

You know, that's an unfortunate thing.

It's a hard thing.

The grief and loss of losing your residence, but also knowing your residents passed in a place, in a world, in a living environment that they chose is a beautiful thing.

But.

Yeah.

So your population changes over time.

So in five years from now, the challenges that you have today as far as acuity and what are they not

going to be the challenges of tomorrow?

Because we're humans.

We're humans and we all bring different things to the table.

And so, yeah, and I think that's

what I, what I, what I benefit from the most is because I am, I am.

I have severe adhd and I'm always looking for the next challenge, the next, you know, what, what can get my, what can get my, you know, my, my brain going, you know, to think and to problem solve.

What's my next problem that I can fix?

Yeah.

And like you said, as, as time goes on, I mean, I've noticed it just in two and a half years.

You know, the problems that was first here are not the only problems that I have.

You know, there are different types of problems, and there's even been problems that I wasn't able to figure out.

I mean, utilizing all of my resources and, and Google and chat, gbt, AI.

I mean, and I couldn't figure it out.

So, I mean, that was.

And that took days of my time trying to figure that problem out specifically, but I'm always looking for that.

And that.

I think that that's why another reason why I stay passionate about service coordination is because it keeps that challenge going.

Yeah.

No day is the same.

Right.

No problem is the same.

And you know, systems change, you know, federal systems, state systems, all of those things.

So all of that changes for your residents as well, and how to navigate different things.

And every time somebody new moves in, the culture changes just a little bit.

Property.

Right.

And then you are the culture builder.

At the end of the day, that's kind of on your shoulders.

Right.

To help support and grow and maintain that culture of a building and make.

Make sure that the folks are living the best life that they can while they're there.

Yes.

Well, Landon, I just think you're a wonderful human being and this has been an amazing conversation.

Are there any final thoughts that you have about service coordination that you would want to share with the audience?

Oh, gosh, I don't know.

I guess if you're.

You're experiencing any type of burnout, you know, take a step back and look at it.

Especially if you.

If you started in this business with.

Or started in this career with a passion for service of senior citizens, if you started with that passion and you're experiencing burnout, take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

What is stressing me out?

Is it the people or is it the lack of support?

If it's the lack of support, you know, speak up.

Yeah, that is.

That is something that I've learned in my career is that even if they can't abide by you, if.

Even if they can't fully give you what you need and they can only give you a little bit, at least you spoke up.

At least you set that boundary for yourself.

You were self aware enough to know that you're experiencing burnout, you know, or fixing to start experiencing burnout in.

In my situation.

Speaking up.

Yeah.

You know, our job is to advocate for our residents all day long, but we have to advocate for ourselves, too.

Couldn't say it better myself.

That is perfect.

That is perfect.

Make sure that you're advocating for yourself as much as you advocate for your residents.

And do it in a way that, you know, brings respect and professionalism and all of those things, because we need that support.

We need that support in this profession.

And never forget to ask us here for that support as well.

You know that we are always here to provide that support, even if we can't make the changes that, you know,

maybe, you know, a resource that says, hey, this can help you out, or here's a different way to do it.

So maybe you're not experiencing the burnout.

You know, there.

There are plenty of resources out there.

I mean, we have.

We have the world plus some at our fingertips.

Yeah.

You know, all we got to do is open a browser.

All we got to do is open a link on our phone.

You know, you can find any.

Yeah, yeah.

And if you can't find it, somebody else could and just reach out to them.

Find your community.

Exactly.

Well, this has been lovely.

Landon, our reigning service coordinator of the year.

I'm looking forward to seeing you in Austin.

Hopefully you'll be able to join us the next conference as we reign.

The next service coordinator of the Year.

So thank you so much for this conversation today.

Greatly appreciate it.

Thank you for having me.

It was.

It was truly.

It was truly an honor.

Thank you so much.

I greatly appreciate it.

Same.