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“Let’s wait until we see what happens with the meeting. While we technically can, if they agree to finish the construction, that’s a lot to juggle. We also don’t want the new tenants to move in and deal with construction noise for weeks.”
“Their situations are so dire construction isn’t going to bother them, Hazel,” I said, playing the devil’s advocate.
“Maybe not, but I’d still like to wait and see what happens at the council meeting before we jump the gun. I’ve also been struggling with—well, it’s not important. Let's make our final decisions on the order of offers for tenants. That way, we can start intake as soon as we know a timeline and the tenant accepts the offer.”
“You’ve been struggling with what?” I asked, stopping my chair. “Don’t hold back on me, Hazel. We’re a team, remember?”
When she blew out a breath, she looked anywhere but at me. “I don’t want to start moving too many people in before the first floor is ready. It could look to our tenants with disabilities that they were an afterthought.”
“That’s not the case, though, Hazel. The reason we aren’t open is because we’ve been fighting for them!”
She held her hand out to calm me. “They don’t necessarily know that, Irving. If the second floor is full of people when they finally get a chance to tour the facility, how is that going to look?”
“Like we consider them second-class citizens,” I said with a frown. “I see your point. I was coming at it from the angle that they’d be so happy to have a place that they wouldn’t care who moved in when.”
“That’s a fair angle, too,” she said, working her lips around in a circle.
“I can see in your eyes that you have an idea.”
Her lips pursed for a moment. “My eyes tell you that I have an idea?”
“Yep,” I said, laughing as I wheeled toward the office. “A little starburst flashes in your eye when you think you’ve solved a problem.”
“I might have,” she agreed, and I stopped again to hear her out. “What if, once the council meets and we find out what they approve for accessible housing, we go through our applications and decide who will fill those apartments? We reach out with an offer to lease and then bring them in to tour your apartment. Once they're here, we can talk to them about how the apartments are still being completed because we saw the need and wanted more than originally planned.”
“Include them on the journey so they know we’re working for them and want them here, even if we aren’t quite ready for them.”
“Yes! They will have something to look forward to and feel like they’re part of the process.”
I shook my finger at her for a moment before I started wheeling again. “Yes, let’s do it. We don’t need approval for that. We only need to wait for the meeting tomorrow night to see if they approve all twelve units. I have most of that work done, as I’ve been preparing for this since I started working here. I’ve reached out to about half of the applicants on the list for the second floor, and only two have found other housing. I’ll get to work on contacting the second half of the list for the second floor, and then we can tackle the first floor together?”
“Sounds like we have our jobs for the afternoon. While you do that, I’ll work on the community center's decorations.” She sighed and followed me into my office, perching on the corner of my desk while her leg swung lazily. “We need a better name for that room. I don’t like calling it the community center since Bells Pass already has one. Calling it a rec center is even worse. It conjures up the idea of basketballs and sweat.”
“We can have a community center too.”
“The Bells Pass Housing Authority Community Center is a mouthful, Irving,” she said with an eye roll. “We could call it New Beginnings Community Center or New Beginnings Gathering Room?”
My lip curled slightly, and I shook my head. “Those aren’t exactly catchy, are they?” I unhooked Star and sent him to his bed in the corner to rest.
“I want to define it from the main community center, but I also want it to be a second option for people. Like we’re doing with Indigo’s reception. I want people to know that it’s not just for the tenants to use.” Hazel snapped her fingers and stood up like a shot. “I’ve got it. Let’s do a contest to name the hall!”
“A contest?”
“Why not?” she asked, throwing her arms out wide. “We want the community to have input, so what better way?”
“What’s the prize?”
She stood quietly for a moment and then snapped her fingers again. “They can book the room for an event at no charge.”
“Okay,” I said as we tossed ideas back and forth. “I can get behind this. Call Cameron so he can run it past the housing board. If they’re okay with it, we’ll announce it at the tree lighting Friday night? Does that sound good?”
“Yes!” she exclaimed, jumping up and throwing her arms around me. “I love it. I’ll go call Cameron and report back, but first,” she whispered, lowering her lips to mine. “I’m going to kiss you to celebrate our first successful move-in.”
“Is that all that has to happen to get one of your kisses?”
“No, I just needed an excuse to kiss you,” she whispered, her lips millimeters from mine.
“My sweet Hazel, you never need an excuse to kiss me,” I said right before our lips connected.
