From Social Work to Property Management: Building Communities with Compassion

Have you ever discovered that someone you've known for years has been walking a parallel professional path without either of you realizing it? That's exactly what happened when I sat down with my longtime friend Katie Elsass for this eye-opening conversation about affordable housing, compassionate property management, and finding purpose in unexpected places.

Katie reveals her journey from aspiring social worker to Quality Improvement Director at Community Housing Network, where she brings structure and compassion to the challenging world of affordable housing. Unlike conventional property management, CHN follows a housing-first philosophy, providing homes to people with disabilities and histories of homelessness without demanding sobriety or income. "We'll house you how you are," Katie explains, creating stability first so other services can follow.

We dive deep into the stark contrast between Columbus's affordable housing shortage and the conventional market's struggle to fill units at higher price points. Katie's career evolution mirrors the growth challenges many non-profits face - from chaotic, unstructured environments to developing comprehensive policies that support both staff and residents. Her candid sharing about workplace stress and finding her professional sweet spot offers valuable insights for anyone trying to align their values with their career.

The conversation takes honest turns as we discuss the unique dangers property managers face working where others live, sharing stories of risky situations and learning how to prioritize safety while maintaining compassion. Katie's life philosophy becomes the perfect takeaway: "Don't worry until you have to" - a reminder to save our energy for challenges that actually materialize rather than burning out on anticipatory anxiety.

Whether you work in housing, social services, or are simply curious about how compassion can transform systems, this conversation illuminates how unexpected professional allies might be hiding in your own social circle. Listen now and discover how two friends found connection through their parallel missions of creating homes and hope.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:13

Welcome back to the SheSweet Society. You know those moments when you realize the universe has been quietly connecting dots you didn't even know existed. That's exactly what happened with today's guest and me. Dots you didn't even know existed. That's exactly what happened with today's guest and me.

Speaker 1 0:27

Katie Elsass and I have been friends for years, swapping stories about our kids, debating the merits of true crime podcasts and sharing more than a few glasses of wine, but somehow we never realized we were both warriors in the wild world of property management. While I've been over here doing my thing, katie has been transforming lives through affordable housing, bringing her social work heart to an industry that desperately needs it. When most people see problems to solve, katie sees people who need homes and hope From navigating the absolute circus that property management can be. Trust me, folks, we've seen everything to juggling, being present for our kids, while building careers where the line between professional and personal gets blurry every single day. Katie brings compassion where others might bring judgment. So grab your coffee, wine or whatever gets you through the day, because we're about to dive into a conversation about housing the unhoused, turning social work passion into tangible change and why sometimes the best professional connections are hiding in your own friend circle all along. Please welcome my dear friend, the housing hero with the biggest heart, katie Elsass.

Speaker 2 1:33

Katie's nice to have you on the podcast. Tell me I was trying to stalk you a little to find out what your actual title is, Do you? I don't think I got very far. I got director of operations of some sort.

Speaker 3 1:47

So the official, the official title is um quality improvement director, quality improvement director. Yeah, I'm sort of like uh, not, not, I'm not. I don't have an online presence. I don't do much on LinkedIn.

Speaker 2 2:03

You don't. I can't find anything, no.

Speaker 3 2:06

You know it's funny because, like I, I don't. I just never thought of this as a career and I just kind of fell into it. So it's just like I've not. I don't try to like network, I don't like. That's actually just not my personality anyway.

Speaker 3 2:19

So that's why you can't find me, but I'm a director of quality improvement and basically what that entails besides normal quality improvement. My team handles all of our compliance. So I'm in affordable housing, so my team handles all of our compliance regulations, policies and procedures. And then you know quality projects kind of things, some project management stuff as well.

Speaker 2 2:47

How long have you been doing it?

Speaker 3 2:49

So I've been in this role for four years I have been. I work for Community Housing Network and I've worked there for 15 years and pretty kind of done it all at CHN. And now this is where I've kind of just fell into.

Speaker 2 3:05

That's where you fell into. How did you? How did how? Did you always want to do this? How did you end up over here? Or is it like the rest of us? You?

Speaker 3 3:14

just somehow ended up there. You know, property management most people do not set out like property management. Most people just fall into it. I, so I social work has kind of been my. I don't, I don't have a degree in social work, but that's been kind of my interest, so to speak.

Speaker 3 3:37

I, when I, greg and I, moved to Columbus 15 years ago, because this is the job that I got then, or the place I started working. And when we did that I had previously I worked in Indiana for a township trustees office and in Indiana they did like uh, assistance, so people would come to the office and I would help like pay their bills right, like if they can't make rent or they can't pay for prescriptions or basic needs, and so we would do like an assessment and then we had some fun. So so like social work I was sort of like dabbling in that. I didn't realize I wanted to be a social worker until like halfway through college. So I never like finished and got the degree of like a general education degree. So you know, you just fall into these careers and I and I always said someday I would go back and like get my LSW and like go do the traditional route, but it just never like worked out. Cause, first off, you don't make crap in social work and why go?

Speaker 3 4:31

And I got to the point where I was like, why am I going to go and pay for schooling for something that's not going to like ultimately boost my income potential or earnings potential? So never did that. And then, when we moved to Columbus, I was looking for something where I had more impact with clients. So like in the township, I would see them in crisis, like I can't pay my bill, my rent, we would do the assessment thing and they would leave and I would never see them again until they were in crisis and I we would see clients in the morning and then I'd have my like afternoon. We would do like investigations, like you vet their income and whatnot.

Speaker 3 5:09

And my boss was like, so she knew what my interest was. And she was like, oh, you can like do stuff. So I like I held these like, uh, financial literacy classes in the afternoons and like nobody would come Cause it wasn't like a requirement, like nobody would come, I nobody. I was like I want people to not be in crisis, I want to teach them how to manage their money and you know, and all these hopes and dreams.

The Housing First Philosophy

Speaker 3 5:31

so when I moved to Columbus I was looking for a job that I wasn't just like touch and go, like I wanted to like invest in people and um the position that CHN had at the time. We are a very different, pretty different than we were 15 years ago. It was a supportive housing coordinator was the title and essentially it essentially was a property manager, but it wasn't called that and I didn't have all the traditional duties at that time.

Speaker 3 5:59

So, I was almost like a property manager who was like a social worker, an onsite social worker, so to speak. But the title was just funky. But I didn't collect rent, I didn't serve like eviction notices. And then at that time we did like annual recertifications for people in their housing. I didn't even do that, we had somebody at the main office that did it. I look back on those days. I'm like what did I do with my time? Like there was lots of drama, obviously with. But you know, I'm like, how did I do so?

Speaker 3 6:26

I so I fell into that and I what I loved about that was like you know you're, I'm in your home. You know, not in their homes, but like I'm in the building, you see them like you know when they live, where they work, where you work where they live.

Speaker 3 6:38

Exactly so, um, and then it's just kind of went on from there and then, after I did that for a while, I opened up one of our new buildings at CHN new builds that we had and worked that for a while and then moved to the main office and did like regional management job, because we like sort of supportive housing coordinator was the name back then and then they morphed into we did like a strategic planning thing where we changed and basically everybody then became property managers, right, or you were a service coordinator, so you were like the you know engagement specialist, so to speak, and so I kind of fell into the property management track.

Speaker 2 7:16

Was that like as the as the organization grew?

Speaker 3 7:19

Yes, yeah, yeah. So CHN has been around, started out smaller, started out much smaller. It's been around now for like 35 years, but like it just grew and grew and about 10 to 12, more than that probably. Like 12 years ago they did a strategic plan where they're like you know, we can't be doing this grassroots stuff anymore. We need better structure, we need actual property managers, and we've gone the gamut of like hire, like how, how do you hire for this position? Because you got to have the like property management skills, but you also have to have the soft people skills, cause we, we house people who, um, you know, the requirements to live in our housing is you have to have some kind of a disability.

Speaker 3 7:58

You and some of our units, um, you have to have a history of homelessness. So we've got people that come to us with trauma and with you know, some baggage, so to speak, and they're not exactly always the best residents. But we ascribe to housing first, so we'll house you how you are, which means you don't have to be clean and sober. Sober, and most, a lot of people, particularly ones who are homeless, they treat their mental illness with substances because they're homeless, so they're not linked with healthcare necessarily, and so our thought process is you house them where they are and then with the hopes that we can connect them with the services that they need.

Speaker 2 8:41

So are they homeless and jobless? Oh yeah.

Speaker 3 8:44

Yeah, there's no income requirement. Most all of our units come with a subsidy, so people, even with no income, are able to afford the housing because it's, you know, subsidized.

Speaker 2 8:54

Covered. Do you find that you're in a shortage?

Speaker 3 8:57

of housing. Oh, a hundred percent, yeah, yeah, there's. There's not enough affordable housing to go around, especially in Columbus.

Finding Purpose Through Structure

Speaker 2 9:07

I mean, I feel like that argument can be made for a lot of cities. It's just when we talk about housing in Columbus those of us that are on the for-profit side we're like we've got units and our biggest issue is, you know, we're building and we can't fill them. We can't fill them as fast as our pro forma dictates. And it's because I think there's a disconnect between what is needed that is affordable and what is that price point. There's a huge disconnect.

Speaker 2 9:41

So, they just keep building and renovating and doing all this stuff. People are moving here, but it's just, it's a very different, it's a very different way of work, which is crazy. Like I hear what you, what you're doing, and I've I've dabbled a bit in the affordable side, just in terms of knowledge, like I've never worked affordable, to be very clear. I've never had to.

Speaker 3 10:04

Oh, did you lose me? No, there it goes, it came back, I don't know. Anyway, yeah, you dabbled, but you never actually I've only learned.

Speaker 2 10:11

I've never actually worked it and of course you know they've changed some laws here in Columbus and Franklin County where it requires all of us to accept vouchers for rent. That is a thing that we have to accept now, and so we had to learn real quick how to do that. So it opened our eyes a little bit. But we, when you talk about how do you qualify for an apartment, we have hoops that you have to jump through to qualify. You have to definitely can't have ever been homeless or have, which is stupid, right. When you think about it, you're like you're trying to find a home. I don't know it's crazy, but you're right. A lot of us just ended up here. We didn't think about it, we just ended up here. I just needed a job and I ended up working in property management because I happened to live somewhere that had a job opening. Had that not happened, who knows where I'd be working right now. That sounds a little bit like what you did.

Speaker 2 11:18

You were looking for social work, but you ended up.

Speaker 3 11:23

Yeah. I mean it's still social work for sure, but I gravitate towards structure and social workers. And you like the affordable housing side Social workers aren't necessarily known for following rules and being able to be structured. So I have the heart of a social worker, but the brain of a property manager, maybe maybe that's you know, like I like these are the, this is the process, this is the policy, like this is what we have to do.

Speaker 3 11:53

I love writing policy, I love writing procedures Cause that's one of the reasons like I fell into this particular role is I was a regional manager and CHN was a little chaotic because as we grew and we we shifted our strategic plan, we had no policies, no procedures, like it literally was like the wild effing West, like everybody just kind of did whatever they did and it drove me nuts.

Discovering Common Ground

Speaker 3 12:20

And then, like I had all the staff that didn't know what they were doing, like they used to be some other position in the company and we just dubbed them. You are now a property manager. Go, katie, here's your staff. Go, and I barely had any training as like a real property manager, and so it was just like I had to learn the job while teaching people the job. I mean it was incredibly stressful. I mean incredibly stressful and I am not, um, an anxious, stressed out kind of person, but that's how.

Speaker 2 12:49

I never struck me no.

Speaker 3 12:50

I, I, I go with the flow, it's fine, but, like it, it was clearly I was having issues because I was stressed out. I like I had a panic attack in the office. I would always be the first one in the office Um, I'm an early bird and you know it's particularly stressful time and I like went to my mailboxes back when you used to get a lot of mail and I like got my mailbox, sat down in my office and like everything that I was like looking at. I was like action item, action item, oh shit, oh yeah. And I just like I started to like breathe heavy and I like got up and I shut my door and I was just like I don't know what's happening.

Speaker 3 13:25

I called my husband and he was like I think you're having a panic attack. And he, I got home I calmed myself down, like I was able to get out of it. And I got home that night and he was like this is I'm done with this. Like you come home, you're, you're not nice, you're stressed out, this is, it's not worth it. So like that night I got on the computer and like found the first applied for the first job. That like I was like I could do that. And it was like a compliance specialist for some other small, itty bitty, tiny affordable place. It was like probably a 10 grand pay cut. I was like I could do that. So I applied and just applying, I like just felt I felt okay. Got a call the next day and I just was like for the next week I was out of body and I just went through the motions like yeah, sure I'll go in for an interview. You know, sure I did the interview. They hired me and I was like I guess I'm taking the job. So I went and told CHN like I'm done, I can't, I can't live with this stress anymore. Like I don't have staff that know what they're doing.

Speaker 3 14:30

I was really in hindsight, like, cause we had no processes, I had nothing to point to, I had nothing to help my team out with. So I leave and I go to this tiny company and it was affordable, but it was senior housing, oh, and I was only there for two months. I, as I was there, I just thought to myself and this is going to sound weird, but like, these people don't need me because, like all of these seniors, they had assets right, like the clients at CHN they have. If they have a bank account, they have two cents in it. Like there's no, they've gotten nothing.

Speaker 3 15:05

And so, even though these seniors needed affordable housing and it was senior housing, I was just like y'all don't need me, this is dumb. And at the same time, I'm having those feelings like what is it I do? Like this is not my passion, like I, this is not what I'm not, like you know, doing good or whatever. My old boss at CHN texted me's like hey, I have an idea. Um, we need somebody to write process and to train. Like can we like create something? And so I went back in two months I went back and like they built this position specifically for me and I like wrote all of our procedures. I did like project management and training work for like three years and then the quality improvement director. It was just kind of a natural shift into where I'm at now. So yeah, how awesome.

Speaker 3 15:52

Yeah.

Speaker 2 15:53

How awesome of them to recognize that that was a business need and that that also was your specialty. And you already know the company. You already understand how it all works. What a seamless transition. Good for them for recognizing.

Speaker 3 16:07

Yeah, and I still like.

Speaker 3 16:08

I am good for you for recognizing that you needed to get out of a situation I mean seriously when they realized that if you had stayed the whole time, no, and I and I don't know like really honestly, it was like very serendipitous, right, because it like, thank God, I left my quality, even that it was a summertime. So for two months in the summer I just had the easiest job ever, like I went into work and came home, didn't even think about the job, um, and it just was a relaxing couple of months and then I was ready to get back to work and like challenge myself again and we, our CEO is she's actually leaving, which is really sad. We get a new CEO next week, which is gonna be crazy, but it was her. Well, she's been on her way out for a while, so they've been doing a search, but Sam, our CEO she was the one that first floated it to my old boss was like what's Katie doing, like she needs to do, and I've said this to her before too.

Speaker 3 17:14

Because of that role, I not only like really gained a better learning for property management but for finance, for compliance at that point, for our maintenance department. I wrote all of those procedures. I learned how everybody did everything, and so I have this like 30,000 foot view of the agency now and I keep telling her that I was like it's all because of you and I still, to this day, feel fulfilled in this role because I always see there's so many opportunities you know what I mean Like there's so much stuff that we can do better here and I have a unique perspective because I know all of the lines of business now, because I was in that role.

Speaker 2 17:48

Very good point, and it's a very good point. And as things keep changing, like tools come available, like you're switching everything over to Rent Cafe, which is a beast all on its own, but the possibilities are super endless at this point, you'll never be bored. It's not like you ever really are, which it's just. What's crazy to me is how passionate both of us are about housing and property management. Yet, like I said, we've known each other for a while and never once have we talked about this. Isn't that crazy? Up until what, like a week or two ago, like we never talked about this. I find that to be one of the most fascinating things, because most people talk about what they do for a living, off the bat, off the get go. Like, whenever you meet somebody, the first question's always like so what do you do? That wasn't our questions. Like we just didn't talk about that, which is so funny. We talked about. I didn't know what we talked about Like um, were you? Were you running? Are you a runner?

Speaker 3 18:58

I think we talked about running Politics. Yeah, your guys' neighborhood drama.

Speaker 2 19:10

Okay, listen, we had a lot of neighborhood drama, I think it's still pretty bad, but it's not as bad as Fencemageddon was. That was the worst. That was by far the worst. And then, with the HOA coming through, and then you guys, you came over to the school and so you switched schools and I know my daughter was there at the same time your daughter's was coming in and soccer didn't, didn't your yes.

Speaker 3 19:30

Liz did soccer hold on? We talked about, like everything else, all these different peers we crossed, but never, never the work career like but I'm excited about that.

Speaker 2 19:43

I'm excited about that. I just think it's um, I think it's really really unique and really cool that people can have that type of an interaction and never once talk about work. I think work is great Don't get me wrong but it doesn't define who you are. It just defines what you do to earn money, unless you're following your passion, which to me sounds like you did both. You earned money and you still followed your passion and you still, like, intrigued yourself mentally by being able to progress within your own company. Yeah, yeah, how did that? How did how?

Speaker 2 20:24

So I know, for me, being a property manager and being in this industry definitely had its toll and impact on my kids and what they see as well. You know, we see some heinous things, we see some really dark sides of life because, again, when you work where other people live, you see how they live. I don't want to make that be like that's the real, the real, real, but it is a different side. Going to make that be like that's the real, the real, real, but it is a different side.

Speaker 3 20:59

How does that impact you? How does it impact you? I mean, you know, I, you, I'm sure you've said this to all property management does. I could write a book, you know, of like crazy stories of things that tenants have done, um, things we've seen, um, you know I'll come home and talk about stories, cause it's a good, it's cathartic or whatever, and you know it's funny cause I don't even know.

The Property Management Realities

Speaker 3 21:20

I think they do now, but for a long time I don't think my kids knew what I did. I don't think they understood what I did, um, but more and more I think they understand now. Like they used to just say I worked, uh in at an apartment, like she works in an apartment, um, but now I think, like I've, we've taught, we talk more, like our kids are older now. So we'll talk a lot about, like you know, getting a good job so that you can pay your bills, you can get a nice house, you can, like you know, support yourself and I will, I will share with them.

Speaker 3 21:49

Like you know, the people I house, they can't afford these things and they, they, you know, have to get assistance. It's not easy to get you, you guys, you know it's, it's, it's not. That's not how you guys want to live, right? So like you need to, like you're lucky to have supports, because a lot of my residents they did not have the support that you know my kids are. You know they're getting, they're getting less they're. They're learning crap from their parents where a lot of our residents they didn't even have parents to teach them, you know.

Speaker 2 22:22

Right, right.

Speaker 3 22:24

So yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 2 22:24

Like I, Would you let your kids go into this industry. So you see this. You see either parents not letting their kids get into this industry or you just see nepotism galore. A whole family owns and manages apartment communities. What's your take on that?

Speaker 3 22:41

Well, I don't know, like I think the whole piece of like the permanent supportive housing thing, like I wouldn't care, I wouldn't mind if my kids like pursued that. Just from a standpoint of, it's really hard to find people who want to do this work and want to do it long-term, because people get burnt out. It is like social work right, you get burnt out um pretty quickly. So if they would be interested, definitely neither one of them I don't think either one of them have a uh tilt towards social work at all in their, in their, in their bones. So, um, I don't think I don't foresee that happening, but, um, I don't know, like I also in, like I don't know, fearless is the right word.

Speaker 1 23:25

Maybe it's stupid, um, maybe that's what I'm in the same boat, right like.

Speaker 3 23:31

I I would I have put myself in positions um that were probably not smart and not safe, like I had a tenant years ago. This is my first, my first uh gig at CHN. I'm really close with my tenants and I think that we are like friendly, like we're close, like I respect you, I treat them with respect and I like had he was um dealing in my building um and I thought it would be a good idea to serve him his eviction notice in my office in person by myself and my office was like, oh my god, the the door was on this side of the desk and he comes and like whatever, it was fine, it went fine.

Speaker 3 24:17

We had a great conversation. He was really angry and you know whatever he leaves, and I was just like that was really stupid, like what did I do? Like he could have really gotten hurt Really. So I've done dumb things like that before, but I think I, after I do it, I'm like okay, lesson learned, that was not smart. Um, and I've been in so much, so many situations. I actually, for a time period when I was doing the project management training gig, I got um CPI certified crisis, um manager or crisis de-escalation. What does CPI stand for?

Speaker 2 24:53

Yeah.

Speaker 3 24:55

God, what did that stand for? I had that certification for years. Anywho, I trained our staff on like crisis stuff and I would tell like, don't do what Katie does, don't do what I do, don't do dumb things like me. Yeah, oh, that's too bad. I could see my kids not not being um, you know, know, cognizant of their surroundings because they're so sheltered, and I think that's probably why, earlier in my career, I did things like that, because I was so sheltered to not recognize that, like, okay, some of our residents. They come to us with pretty big trauma and their normal response to something is not what others' normal response would be, you know. So, thankfully, knock on wood, I didn't learn that like the hard way, so to speak. I haven't gotten myself in any trouble, but I've put myself in some risky situations being in this industry.

Speaker 2 25:46

it's not hard to be put into those types of situations. Even when you plan, even when you prepare, you truly just don't know you're dealing with the public and in some cases, you're dealing with them at their worst, yeah, at some, at some, in some cases, uh, I can never forget that story. Uh, I think it was in Florida where the property manager put out like small balance notices of like water and the old old guy old guy, like very unassuming guy came into the leasing office with a gun and threatened them. He let the assistant leave and he shot the manager. It went pretty, it went pretty viral. Manager lived, but still, this is a normal thing. And like, even I was out at one of our properties and there was a resident threatening us with an AK 47.

Speaker 2 26:34

Just for what? Literally for what? And it's just it's. It's, it's a. It can be a scary world, but can also be really rewarding when you know you're helping people and you know you're still doing right, regardless of which side you're on. Uh, like affordable or for profit. I didn't mean conventional, I was like what the hell is my cycle? Um, if you could give anybody listening to the G suite society advice, just life advice. Honestly like more life advice I mean it can be work advice but prefer about life. What would you? What would you say, is the is a piece of advice you would give them that they could sort of pocket in their brain when they're maneuvering through life. What's something you live, a rule you live by, not the don't do Katie's way. What's a rule you would live by that you could pass along?

Don't Worry Until You Have To

Speaker 3 27:35

So I've actually been using this mantra a lot at work but it applies in life too is I don't worry until I have to? And I've been saying this at work a lot because you know everybody's freaking out. We're getting a new CEO, what's going to happen? Oh, is she going to change everything? And I'm like, why am I wasting energy, worrying until I have to, if and when they come in and they do the thing and they change something? And then in that moment, maybe, if I have to worry, I'll worry. But like, why waste your time in anything in life? Like why stress out over what, the unknowns, what could happen, what? Just wait until it happens and then take it when it comes, Like I don't have time. You know what I mean? I don't like that feeling. I hate the feeling of being worried and anxious, and so I just choose a good feeling and I know it's really easier said than done, but I just choose.

Speaker 2 28:25

I just choose not to yeah, you don't have to worry about it. Plus, I think a lot of the time when people worry about stuff, you're assuming the worst. It could also just be the best. What's the harm in assuming the best? I don't know. I really like that piece of advice. See, that's good. See, works for both work and personal. Don't worry, unless you have to. I love that. Well, thank you for joining me today and spending this time. We could talk forever about our stories with property management, and maybe we'll get the chance to here soon aspirations to housing hero, all while navigating the beautiful chaos of motherhood and property management.

Speaker 1 29:13

I think we can all take Katie's advice to heart Don't worry until you have to. In an industry where we quite literally work, where people live, where every day brings new challenges and unexpected situations, those words hit differently. They remind us that, while preparation is key, we don't need to carry tomorrow's troubles today, whether you're managing properties, managing a household or managing to keep your dreams alive. Through it all, save your worry for when it's actually needed Just might be the self-care we all deserve. Katie, thank you for sharing your wisdom, your heart and for being my friend all these years, even when we were clueless that our professional paths were running parallel. Until next time she's Sweet Society remember to take care of your spaces, take care of each other and, most importantly, take care of yourself.