Q3 2020 North Coast News

This year has surely been one of the most challenging for the entire world. No matter who you are, what company you work for or what industry you’re in, it's safe to say that this global pandemic has changed every facet of our lives. And here at North Coast things have been no different.

Our Reaction to Covid-19

Like all companies we have had to react to the ever changing circumstances of Covid-19. Luckily with a company culture that’s rooted in treating team members like family our leadership was fast acting and thorough to preserve the health and safety of our on-site team members.

Here's what we did:

• Early Closures — Immediately as the news broke, we closed our offices to any outside residents or prospects. While details were still developing, we felt a responsibility to protect our staff and pulled the trigger early on closures, being one of the first in the industry to do so.
  
  
• Unlimited Sick Time — We made sure every employee knew that their safety came first and their job wouldn’t be at risk if they needed to stay home. All employees we granted unlimited sick time during the pandemic should they feel ill in any way.
  
  
• Protecting Vulnerable Team Members — Anyone who was immunocompromised (or had a close relative who was) was given the opportunity to work from home without consequence.
  
  
• Hero Pay — Each on-site employee was given Hero Pay bonuses throughout the lockdown as a sign of gratitude for continuing to show up in these hard and unprecedented times.
  
  
• Resident Rent Relief — Our responsibility didn’t stop at our employees and we have offered rent relief and deferment programs across all of our properties to ensure those effected by the pandemic would not be abandoned in their time of need.

Other Mentionables

Not only did North Coast put policy into place to protect our residents and employees, we also saw an outpouring of community support from within the company. Employees continue to support their local communities by donating blood, hosting virtual food drives, volunteering at food banks, cleaning up beaches, donating to charities and we even had one site who donated parts of their Hero Pay bonuses to their local LA hospital and fire department. Showing this solidarity for front-line workers was inspiring and a true sign of appreciation and we thank the team at Portofino for giving so much to those protecting us.

Social engagements in the social distancing age

A huge part of our community building comes from our on-site events. Our managers plan extensively throughout the year to create a program that brings residents and staff together. Unfortunately, with Covid-19 making most of our events impossible we were not able to fulfill this normal protocol. However, we have seen an impressive surge of creativity from our on-site managers as they have transitioned this schedule into digital events and socially distant engagements. Zoom parties, balcony contests, breakfast delivery and courtyard concerts (enjoyed from balconies) have been some of the few ways our teams have managed to keep that communal spark alive.

Settling into the changes

With the additional milestone of settling into our new brand of North Coast it's safe to say that these trying times have shown us that our team members are some of the best people we could ask for. Self-sacrifice, open hearts and an attitude to protect and nurture our teams and residents have been the common thread. We are fortunate to call this group of amazing individuals our team and watching a difficult time highlight the best we have to offer has instilled a true sense of pride throughout our entire company. Thank you, team, for showing that hard times bring out the best in people and we look forward to all the exciting new programs we have on the horizon!