If you were to tell Tiffany Wright several years ago that she’d be making a huge difference for New York City’s public housing sector at the beginning of her career, she probably wouldn’t believe you.
A lifelong sports fan, Wright originally set out on the path of sports medicine, going to school for the subject and working as an athletic trainer. It was when she picked up a job at a property management company that she found a new passion.
“It started off as a temp job. I was actually studying sports medicine in college, I came home and did it as a temp job just for the winter break and fell in love,” said Wright. “I have just been in the industry ever since.”
Now, 20 years later, Wright works for Faria Management as the Director of Community Management. Over the course of her career, she has helped over 50,000 public housing residents through her work for the most vulnerable, low-income communities and residents.
Ironically, Wright says that there is a fair amount of crossover when working in property management when compared to sports medicine.
“As a trainer,you’re really listening to the needs of the athlete; how are you feeling, how are you doing, how are you performing? With the residents, you have to have a listening ear. Like when a football player is going in the game even though they’re hurt, you have to pay attention and watch if he’s favoring this leg, etc.,” said Wright. “In management, sometimes residents don’t say what the issues are. You have to watch behavior and mannerisms. There’s a lot of just being a support, too.”
Faria Management is currently working with Dantes Partners, which is currently changing lives for nearly 900 residents in Washington Heights, Harlem and Sugar Hill through the NYCHA PACT program. This project, estimated at $166M, includes 557 units across 3 high-rise buildings at Audubon Houses, Bethune Gardens and Marshall Plaza, and results in fully upgraded apartment units, with Dantes Partners as the sole developer.
In her role, Wright works to make sure that in addition to having fully renovated units, the residents that she is working with have engaging programming for them.
“Each building comes with a tenant association, so really it’s just making sure that we support them in their annual events,” said Wright. “They usually have a family day every year, things of that nature.”
Wright also noted that Faria will step in to help assist during graduation season, host a summer youth program as well as an internship program. Among the more popular gatherings include Breakfast with Santa during the holidays and their very own Senior Prom for the building’s senior residents.
“Two of our three buildings are specifically senior housing. You get to see all the kids go off and wear pretty dresses and get in limos, so why not do something for the seniors?” said Wright. “We actually found that a lot of them never even went to prom, so it’s to give them their moment.”
Wright says that the team also works to make sure that residents can further be engaged in the community at large, encouraging them to take part in neighborhood activities.
“If there are events that are happening in the area, we’re making sure the residents are aware of movie nights in the park or if there’s a street festival carnival that happens in Harlem once a month, we’re making sure the residents are aware of that,” said Wright. “We try to reinforce the things that we’re actually doing and trying to make sure that we’re creating a community or reinforcing what’s already there.”
For Wright, working with the community in the capacity that she does is more than just a job, it’s crucial for the well-being of the residents she works with.
“It’s not just a job for us. Most of our staff actually are residents, so we’re coming from the inside out, we’re touching all the bases, we’re understanding what the resident experience is on a day-to-day basis,” said Wright. “We’re not just trying to come in with no level of perspective or awareness. We’re listening to the people and making changes and adjustments as needed. We’re understanding some of the pain points, things that went well or didn’t go well. We are here and we care, this is people’s homes, this is their lives and we don’t take that for granted.”
For more information, visit www.dantespartners.com.
