We explored the concept of hospitality in April’s edition of City State Journal, and the impact of that to transform communities.  Apartment Life, a Dallas-based group, was founded several years ago to meet the community needs of residents living in multifamily communities. Apartment Life initiated and developed the CARES program and has been marketing it to different apartment communities throughout the United States.  According to its website the heart of the CARES program is to foster an environment where residents can connect with each other and develop friendships.  These relationships are foundational for creating community and a “third place”. 

I sat down this past month with John and Jenna Wilson to find out about their experience in serving as CARES representatives since June 2010, to an apartment community in Central Dallas.  Both have a full plate of activity with John being IT Audit Manager for Southwest Airlines, as well as pursuing a Cross Cultural Ministry degree at Dallas Theological Seminary and Jenna pursuing a degree in Biblical Counseling there.

The couple met at Fellowship Church Grapevine, and migrated to Irving Bible Church and got married in January 2009.  After joining CARES in 2010, they began the process of looking for a central city church, coming to City Church International in June 2011.

Chuck: What has been the most rewarding thing to the two of you, serving with Apartment Life?
John & Jenna: It is amazing to think that we have been doing this almost two years. I would say the most rewarding moments have come when we have knocked on residents’ doors, and they have been willing to open up to us.  We have talked about what is important with them, why they moved to Dallas, or some other salient topic.  That has enabled us at times to be able to pray with them and see the impact of our prayers on their lives.  Sometimes we knock on their doors when it is pouring down rain or extremely hot outside and the residents invite us into their homes.  It’s amazing how taking ten minutes to talk to them can yield such great results.

Chuck: You mention prayer;  how does the question of “How can I pray for you or Can I pray for this” come up? 
John:  In our talking to them they might tell us that they moved here after their aunt died or something like that.  Jenna’s really good about segmenting here and asking how we can pray for them.
Jenna:  We might see a cross on the wall and ask a resident “What is your faith?”  It is amazing what people will reveal to you.  We listen to their stories and pray with them.

Chuck: How many people do you get to personally impact each month?
John: I would say between the three different events we conduct each month, our welcome visits, renewal visits, and our CARE visits that we personally talk to about 150 people per month. 
Jenna: Everybody knows us, our picture is on everything.  If someone is not home, we leave a card on their door.  Our picture is on the announcements on the bulletin boards.

Chuck: How many residents are in this complex?
John & Jenna: It’s difficult to say.  There are 250 apartments, most have at least two residents, some have as many as six.

Chuck: What are some of the activities you have done to promote community in your complex?
John: Our most popular is the pancake breakfast where we serve pancakes, bacon, Starbucks coffee and juice.  On our Doggie’s Day Out, pet owners come and we have someone come and speak on obedience training and other helpful topics.  We invite a photographer to come and take photos of the animals.  We have pool parties in the summertime where we serve hamburgers and hot dogs.  On our First Day of School events we hand out a granola bar and orange juice.  We had an opportunity last year to feed a whole bus of special needs kids.  We have game nights where we play bingo or some other game.  We have Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners as well.  Our Thanksgiving Dinner is our most attended event.  Some residents have told us that they would not have had a Thanksgiving Dinner had it not been for our initiative to do this as they would not have been able to afford it.

Chuck: How open can you be about Christianity?
Jenna: We are blessed with a staff that is very open to the gospel  The managers allowed a blessing to be done at the Thanksgiving meal.  I want to say something about what John did here.  At the Thanksgiving meal for 2011, John prepared a brief message on the history of Thanksgiving and the meaning of it.  He also shared about what Christ has done for us.  He basically gave a gospel presentation to about 150 residents.  We asked the residents “Anyone want to share what they are thankful for?”  Many raised their hands and shared that night.

Chuck: What do you see to be the number one need among apartment residents in your community?
John: Spiritually speaking, I would say a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  We have met many who claim religion or go to church, but have rarely met those with a vibrant walk with Christ.  There is a statistic that more than 90% of apartment residents do not regularly attend church

Many of these residents desire genuine friendship, connecting with others. 

Chuck: Speaking in mission terms, what does an individual apartment community represent in our world today?
Jenna: It is our mission field.  That community is our mission field.  In some communities that friends of ours are assigned to, it is like being in China – you do your job well and keep management happy.  You model the Christian life and earn the right to be heard.  Here again, it keeps you from violating Fair Housing Laws.  We are definitely able to do more in our complex than some of the CARE teams in other apartment communities.
John: I would compare it to a village/community or city neighborhood.  It is much more multi-cultural, condensed, and transient – people constantly moving in and out - than suburban neighborhoods.

Chuck: What are you permitted to do in your role?
John: In order to comply with Fair Housing Laws, Bible studies have to be requested by the residents and not initiated by the CARES team.  In some communities, the CARES team witness primarily by their lifestyle and occasional opportunities to witness to their faith. 
Jenna:  I have talked with one lady on staff about superstitions, sexuality etc.. I have built a really good and authentic relationship with our manager.  She trusts us because we are in for what is best for the residents.

Chuck: Describe the level of accountability you have with your leadership in what you are doing?
Jenna:  We have what is referred to as three-fold accountability: 

A.We are accountable to Apartment Life – We do monthly reports.  Our area director checks in with us once each week.  They also check in with our apartment manager.
B.We are accountable to our Apartment Manager – doing the events that we said we would do, keeping our budgets in line, getting our other paperwork done, getting the residents’ feedback.  We also have access to a computer program where we can place a retention alert on file of the computer if need be for the benefit of the apartment management.
C.We are accountable to City Church International.  We had to have a recommendation from the church and have them agree to receive spiritual reports and prayer requests.  They put these in the weekly reports that are prayed for on Tuesday nights. 


Chuck: Would you do this again?
John: We would if God led us.  It challenges you in your faith, your family life, the sacrifice during the week nights and weekends.

Chuck: What traits/skills do you feel are most important for someone who will fill this role?
John: I would say that the traits that someone must have to effectively perform this ministry include having a selfless attitude because you are living 24x7x365 with the people you serve and are always on call to respond to a request or need.  You need to have a spirit of perseverance as well to be able to deal with the complaints and other items that arise.  You really just need to have thick skin, and the way to really experience these things is to possess an active and strong prayer life. 

Jenna: I think the skills that are important for CARES include event planning, organization for the paperwork and budget, and being creative.

We haven’t always wanted to go out and knock on doors or do an event. Sometimes we have to just take some time and pray before we go out in order to have the strength to do it.  I remember one instance when we did not want to go out and we prayed.  John is real effective with getting us to do that.  We ended up meeting a lady who had suffered from brain cancer who was happy just to be alive.

John: It is important to be real or authentic as a person.  You cannot be churchy.  You have to be vulnerable with your own faults.  People sense when you are fake and they won’t let you into their lives. 

Jenna: Right, they want a friend.  Your goal is to be their friend and earn the right to share your faith.  They appreciate authenticity.

Chuck: Who do you view as a role model for your life as far as their influencing you and pushing you along where you want to go?
John: It would have to be my dad.  When I think of him I think of one who is kind, giving, soft-hearted toward Christ, and is persevering, living what he preaches, warm and accepting of all.

Jenna: It would have to be Cheryl, my mentor when I was 18.  She was my first boss and a real Christian who walked the talk.  She came beside me, mentored me and changed my life.

Chuck: How do the following groups respond to your outreach? – Millenials, Generation Y, Generation X, Baby Boomers, Builders?
John: The millenials would rather be sent a text or an email.  They are the least likely to let you into their apartment when you go and visit them.  This is in contrast to the Baby Boomers who are more inviting.  They like and desire the face to face contact.  With millenials you go where they want to be or need to have something that they want.  They have 1,000 FaceBook friends.  You have to catch them in a crisis and offer tangible help, then the door opens.  Oftentimes, many of them would rather get a text.

Chuck: What has been your biggest frustration in this role?
Jenna: Wanting to do more than we are able due to lack of resources and volunteers.  Particularly to reach the millenials we would need more money which we do not have.  It’s also frustrating when people volunteer but then don’t show up to help.

John: With me it would have to be the ‘I don’t care’ attitude of many middle class young Americans.  CARES teams in other complexes struggle with that phenomenon even more.  It is the attitude of many of them of “I don’t need anything.” 

Chuck: How have you personally grown from your involvement with Apartment Life?
John: It has forced me to be others focused, getting out of my comfort zone and talking to people.  Having to knock on doors has been a big thing for me as I am an introvert.  We have grown as a couple.  Through the trials of ministry, serving has exposed our best and worst; weaknesses and strengths.

Jenna: My motivations are different.  I am less likely to do the things I do for praise and pats on the back and more likely to do them for the people receiving them.  I am coming to love the people, learning to serve out of love.

Chuck: What process does someone go through in order to get selected to do this?
John: You fill out an on-line application.  They assess your skills, references and your spiritual background. Apartment Life advertises themselves to the apartment communities as a faith based organization. 

You then go through a two step interview process where they ask questions about your salvation and what you believe.  You then are asked to give a gospel presentation and articulate your personal faith story.  Then you are approved or not approved and then you wait for a placement.  We were in the mid-cities and had applied and desired to be placed there.  We waited ten months for them to place us there.  Nothing became available and then when we informed them that we were going to be attending Dallas Seminary and moving into central Dallas, they indicated that they had a complex near Downtown Dallas where we could go.

Jenna: The final part of the process is they have you commit with your team to a particular complex.  You then go with them to meet the manager who then decides whether he or she thinks you and your team would be a good fit for the complex.  Full background checks are done on everybody so as to eliminate those with a criminal record.


Chuck: What do you see as your next mission when you leave this role?
John/Jenna: We will want to focus more on City Church International, specifically looking together or individually for opportunities in the church where our gifts, etc…match up.


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Lights in the City
Posted: June 1, 2012 by Chuck DeShazo