Apartment manager makes students feel at home on Easter
Spring break at Slippery Rock University almost always happens before Easter, so many students spend the holiday in their dorms or apartments instead of enjoying a dinner and camaraderie with their families.
This year was no different, with the students’ break occurring from March 10 to 17.
Enter Brandy Lawrence, manager of Cooper Street Apartments in Slippery Rock, which has 60 two- or three-bedroom units mainly occupied by students.
Lawrence got the idea to fill about 500 colorful plastic eggs with candy and small rent credits of $5, $10 and $20 to place on the students’ doorsteps and hide around the property on Easter morning.
“I just got to thinking, I didn’t have a building for a dinner or anything, but I did think ‘I could fill a bunch of eggs and put them around their doors to make them feel at home,’” Lawrence said.
The idea hit her when a student brought in a deposit for an apartment and offhandedly mentioned Easter.
“They said ‘I haven’t been home for Easter since I started college,’” Lawrence recalled.
She sent a message on the app she uses to text residents alerting students that eggs were placed around the property.
“I figured they probably do not get up any earlier than 9, so I put them out before that,” Lawrence said.
The owners of Cooper Street Apartments heartily agreed with Lawrence’s plan and gave her $200 for eggs and candy and donated $300 in rent credits for the cheerful project.
“I have a great group of owners,” Lawrence said.
She wanted to make the students happy on Easter, even though they were away from family.
“I want the students to feel like if they can’t be home, then Cooper Street is their home,” Lawrence said. “If I had a building, I would be doing a dinner for them, too.”
Lawrence also made up an Easter basket for a married couple in the apartments who attend the university while raising a toddler.
The kindness shown to student by Lawrence on Easter did not go unnoticed by officials at the university.
“We think it’s great how property managers of off-campus housing are embracing our students and doing things like this to make them feel welcomed,” said David Wilmes, SRU chief student affairs officer.
“As SRU continues to help connect students to different housing options, we’re encouraged by what Cooper Street Apartments has done, as well as the many ways our campus and local communities engage with each other as one Slippery Rock community,” Wilmes said.
