Yardi Scottsdale Charity Committee recently hosted a ceremony honoring the recipients of its 2018 charitable grants. The contributions demonstrate Yardi’s mission to “take care of our communities” in action. Each recipient is a nonprofit nominated and approved by Yardi Scottsdale employees. Arizona Burn Foundation The Arizona Burn Foundation mission is to “improve the quality of life of burn survivors and their families while promoting burn prevention education in Arizona.”  The organization provides child burn survivors with physical, psychological, emotional and social support. Services include reconstructive treatment, family assistance, survivor and family camps, counseling, and prevention and education programs in the community. Upon nominating the Arizona Burn Foundation, a Scottsdale employee wrote, “My step son is a burn victim. He suffered third degree burns over his entire body when he was just 1 year old. The Arizona Burn Foundation has been a part of our lives for many years. My family volunteers and provides support for other families that are just starting the recovery process.” Eve’s Place Eve’s Place specializes in “supporting any victim of domestic, sexual and teen dating abuse by increasing access to services through mobile advocacy.” The organization has helped victims to restart their lives outside of the circle of abuse. Participants receive assistance with safety planning, goal setting, and obtaining shelter.  Personal advocates and support groups help victims of abuse to rebuild their esteem and sense of purpose. To help victims attain justice, Eve’s Place also offers support and information on various legal topics within the civil and criminal justice systems. Heart Encouragement Heart Encouragement assists individuals suffering from cancer and provides support and encouragement for them and their loved ones during their cancer journey. The broad spectrum of care services empowers cancer patients and their families in a variety of...

Peter Altobelli, vice president of sales and general manager of Yardi Canada Ltd., recently spoke at the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA) Conference. The social housing conference attracted more than 1,100 delegates including housing staff, board members and tenants from across the province, as well as service managers and government officials. Altobelli presented to a packed room and focused on the effects of automating property maintenance in the social housing industry. “Let’s face it. Keeping properties well maintained requires a lot of effort and capital resources. It also impacts the satisfaction of residents and staff. We’ve found that automating property maintenance can help housing providers cut facility management costs, save time and make life easier for everyone involved,” Altobelli said.. Three case studies helped illustrate how social housing organizations made property maintenance services more effective and efficient with  technology. The three organizations profiled during the presentation were Renfrew County Housing Corporation (Renfrew), Cochrane District Social Service Administrative Board (CDSSAB) and Lanark County Housing Corporation (LCHC). Renfrew County Housing Corporation manages housing in the largest (geographically) county in Ontario with nearly 3,000 square miles of land. With 15 staff to manage such a vast area, Renfrew was challenged with timely communication and manual processes. Prior to the adoption of technology for their maintenance management, staff relied on faxed documents and manual data entry into a desktop computer. The service team were required to commute to the offices to pick up work orders, which further ate into the lead time of each service request. Renfrew gained efficiency and connectivity with mobile solutions from Yardi. They improved customer service and made it easier for staff to identify high-priority repairs that needed immediate attention. Moreover, technology has helped Renfrew make their management more insightful and effective through complete...

The Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA) held a three-day conference and tradeshow in Toronto earlier this month, focused on the theme “Let’s Grow Together.” More than 1,100 housing professionals, government representatives, community partners and service managers attended. Yardi presented  “A Real-World Look at Technology in Social Housing,” an informative look at innovation. The room was completely full as Peter Altobelli, Yardi vice president of sales and general manager of Canadian operations, moderated a discussion about how technology impacts non-profits, how everyday tasks can be automated and how non-profits can maximize their return on investment in technology. Panelists included Christine Brutin, chief executive officer for Haldimand-Norfolk Housing Corporation; Dana Farcasiu, supervisor of technical services for Renfrew County Housing Corporation; and Wendy Duncan, manager of finance and administration for Stoney Creek Community Homes. The session began with the topic of change management issues that arise with new technology adoption. Ms. Brutin noted how far their organization had come since computers first became commonplace in the work space in the early 90’s. “We had a large mainframe computer that nearly took up its own room!” Ms. Brutin recalled. Haldimand-Norfolk successfully dealt with numerous challenges as the organization began to rely more heavily on computers as well as software solutions such as Yardi Voyager for Canadian Social Housing, which Haldimand-Norfolk began using in 2000. Panelists discussed how automation has made their organizations more efficient, and helped them better serve their clients. Pain points such as missing case management documentation, disjointed information and lack of consistency in historic records were all cited as “defining moments”  that led to the decision of technology adoption by the panelists. Ms. Farcasiu added that “with the access to information, increase in productivity and reduction on downtime, with Yardi, I have been able to...