Brody Childs (headshot provided by one of the neighbors in Kid's Club).
From moving across the country during the pandemic with little idea of what to expect to finding a place to call home, Brody’s story is an adventure marked by friendship, service, and building real community. In this blog, join the conversation as Brody shares how serving his neighbors shaped his own life and gave him a community along the way.
The following interview is with Brody Childs, a staff member with Apartment Life and a former Apartment Life Coordinator who served two communities over four years with our Resident Services program.
How did you find out about Apartment Life?
I was living in upstate New York and made the decision to go to seminary school in Portland. I was planning to move across the country when the pandemic in 2020 began and everything shut down. I just began praying for direction and asked God, "If you want me to do this, I need a place to live, and I need a place to work." One day, I was searching the seminary's website and saw a job posting for Apartment Life. I put in my resume, and an hour later I got a call for an interview.
They asked if I could be there in January, so I drove across the country in the middle of a snowstorm, making it at 5:30 p.m. on a Saturday while the leasing office was still open, and then started on Monday.
How was it being one of our first Resident Services Coordinators?
I started the year Resident Services was launched, and my Program Director was so gracious in helping me navigate expectations, deliverables, relationships with residents, and setting healthy boundaries. She introduced me to the program and helped me build it within my communities because nothing existed previously.
Over the years, all of my Program Directors gave me such a good understanding of the program. It’s really sweet that now I get to be in this role and help future coordinators thrive. It’s a lot of fun!
How did you navigate building community for yourself as a single coordinator living in a new area?
As an adult starting over, it can be awkward to try to build community for yourself, but I’m grateful that within the first couple of months I found a church home and a good group of friends.
At the same time, working in low-income apartment communities gave me another kind of community. It was during the pandemic, and people were late on rent and in need of work, so I got to be someone they could come to for assistance. It’s a super vulnerable place to be, and I found myself sitting at a desk laughing and crying with residents who were opening up about the last 10 years of their lives and the difficulties they’d gone through.
Instead of feeling judged or looked down upon, they felt loved and supported. As they received assistance, they began coming out to events and serving their neighbors, and true community and love for their neighbors began to grow out of serving others. They really loved being around each other, and it was good for me too. Those residents quickly became friends.
It sounds like you were pouring out a lot during that season. What did you do to fill yourself up?
I really enjoyed learning in seminary and felt filled up during that season. I also began serving in our church’s coffee shop, which gave me another opportunity to get to know people and be part of the community.
And then there’s just something about living in the Pacific Northwest. Every time I’m driving and see a mountain on the horizon, I almost get in a car accident because it is so beautiful! Anytime I feel overwhelmed, I love to go out into God’s creation, spend time in nature, pray, and just be reminded of His goodness.
What are some of your favorite stories from your time serving?
One resident was unemployed for almost a year, and every day I was there, she would grab her coffee and come talk with me. Over time, she began volunteering at events and using her love for painting to serve Kids Club by leading painting classes with the kids. At Christmas, she even painted a mountain scene for families to take family photos in front of.
I had helped her once, and yet she began pouring herself out serving the community. I actually started to feel bad for how much time she was spending volunteering, so one day I asked her, “Do you feel like you have to be here?” She said, “No, this place is just peaceful. This place feels like home to me.”
About a year later, she began experiencing serious health issues and strokes. She asked me to pray for her and eventually asked if she could come to church with me. It was really special to see how a relationship that began through meeting a practical need grew into a place where she felt known, loved, and at home.
I also had an older resident who had struggled with some difficult life decisions and health conditions. He would come to the clubhouse and just hang out with us. We noticed pretty quickly that he didn’t have great personal hygiene, and he told us he didn’t believe in deodorant. We loved him anyway.
I connected him to a church within walking distance, and the people there really began to take him in. One day, he came to tell me that some friends he had made at church invited him over for food and cake for his birthday. While he was there, people kept knocking on the door and coming in with gifts for him. He was almost in tears, telling me how loved he felt.
After I transitioned out of the coordinator role, a new coordinator stepped in and built a strong relationship with him. Because of that relationship, she was able to tell him how much his presence meant to her and the community, while also having an honest conversation about why personal hygiene was important. She gave him deodorant, and the next day he reached out to thank her and let her know he had started using it.
I think that story shows what it means to really get in the trenches with people and love them where they are. When you build that kind of trust, you also build the type of relationship where you can speak the truth in love and help people grow.
What tangible resources does Resident Services help provide?
In the Resident Assistance part of the program, I set aside time each week for one-on-one time with residents. Often, that includes practical needs like thinking through a budget, securing food assistance, or finding available local resources. We’re kind of like a human Google, helping residents figure out where to start.
Resident Assistance varies from state to state and even county to county. Oftentimes, there is one organization that helps connect people to nonprofits or state agencies that may be able to assist them. My job is to listen to their circumstances and hear their story to see what they may qualify for, then help them through the application process and understand what their next steps are.
I also help residents understand the leasing office timeline and what their next steps will be, because there are consequences for not paying rent. I remind them that it’s not personal and that the leasing staff has procedures to follow. My manager had a heart for the people and cared about their stories, and I would encourage residents to over-communicate with the leasing team about the steps they were taking.
We aren’t social workers, but we are here to help residents find opportunities and resources. Sometimes we aren’t able to help with the specific task they’re requesting, but I’ve noticed that when people are in crisis, they are often just overwhelmed. Sometimes they simply need someone they can go to who will listen, care for them, and help them figure out their next step.
We also have Food Markets or Food Pantries that provide food to families. Often, parents work long hours and barely get by, and they can’t always get to a local food bank during its operating hours. One thing I did was provide our local food bank with a list of residents who were in need but unable to come because of work. The food bank provided the food to me, and residents were able to pick it up from me after work.
Another one of our coordinators built a partnership with Target and serves around 70–80 residents each week through a market. Every community looks different, so Resident Assistance is really about understanding the people in front of you, knowing the resources available in your area, and helping connect the two.
What's next for you?
Although I’ve officially graduated from seminary and completed my time serving as an Apartment Life Coordinator, I’ve come to love the city of Portland and the community I’ve built here. I really enjoy serving with Apartment Life as a Program Director and pouring into my coordinators, using the experience I gained during my time as a coordinator.
It’s also a blessing to work for a fully remote company because it gives me the flexibility to continue serving Apartment Life while also investing my time in my local church and volunteering in the community I’ve come to call home. I’m grateful for where God has me in this season and open to whatever He has next for me!
For more interviews, be sure to follow along on our blog and follow our Instagram @aptlife. We can't wait to hear from you and hope this interview inspires you today with the power of belonging and community!