History
Apartment Life was founded in March 2000 by Stan Dobbs and a group of Christian businessmen in the apartment industry. Two streams came together to launch Apartment Life. One stream was Stan’s experience as a pastor in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. There he was involved in a ministry to low-income apartment communities, and caught the vision for the tremendous potential for ministry in apartments and the desperate need of apartment owners for help with building community and meeting the needs of their residents. He began piloting the CARES program in Dallas in 1999.
The other stream was Apartment Life Developers - an organization founded by Paul Schultheis, CEO of Real Property Investments. Paul owned a portfolio of apartments in Phoenix and Flagstaff and had provided apartments for teams on his communities to do community-building and outreach. Paul and Stan connected and agreed to merge Apartment Life Developers and CARES into what became CARES by Apartment Life.
Many people were instrumental in the birth of Apartment Life. Cindi Scoggins, then a regional manager at Westdale Asset Management, was an early supporter of the CARES program. Ray and Tia Albertson were the first CARES Team for Westdale and clearly demonstrated the potential of the program. Apple Residential was the first company not previously affiliated with the church-based program to test the CARES program. Greg and Jennifer Knight did an outstanding job as the CARES Team. Tina Hansen led property management for Apple and subsequently became the COO of Apartment Life.
In late 1999, some new relationships would greatly accelerate the formation and growth of Apartment Life. JPI, a nationally respected developer of luxury and student apartments, played a central role. JPI is led by four committed Christian men who saw the potential for CARES. JPI was the first luxury apartment developer to implement CARES and was critical in legitimizing CARES in the apartment industry. Curt and Gayle Wood were called out to serve as the CARES Team for the JPI pilot program and served with excellence. Bobby Page, the President of JPI, serves on the board of Apartment Life and is a strong advocate and trusted advisor.
Doug Chesnut, then President of Trammell Crow Residential Services, heard about the concept and became a champion. Doug also serves on the board of Apartment Life. David Oelfke, a principal with Southwest Residential Partners in Houston, was another key pioneer. David quickly caught the vision and began to open doors with several important companies and Christian philanthropists to launch a Houston region. David served on the board as the first chairman and gives leadership to fund-raising.
From these exhilarating beginnings, God continued to bless and grow Apartment Life. Marshall Edwards, former CEO of Walden Residential, joined the board in 2001 to focus on growth and industry partnerships. Ron Witten, President of Witten Advisors, joined the board in 2003 and has been invaluable in industry networking and developing a methodology to measure the business value of the CARES Program.