Apartment manager provides office resources - WAFF-TV: News, Weather and Sports for Huntsville, AL

Apartment manager provides office resources for low-income tenants

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By Christine Pae - email
Millsap's company purchased an i-Pad, a printer, a phone and converted an old office into a brand-new space for tenants to access the Internet. Millsap's company purchased an i-Pad, a printer, a phone and converted an old office into a brand-new space for tenants to access the Internet.
HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) -

A manager at a low-income housing complex in Huntsville went above and beyond to provide free Internet access to his tenants.

Marc Millsap of Home Tech Property Management estimated that very few of his tenants at the Amos Garden Apartment on Winchester Road are able to afford Internet access, particularly Wi-Fi.

Four years ago, Millsap went on a mission to improve affordable housing and providing Wi-Fi access was one of his goals.

"One of the biggest problems and one of the biggest struggles is that when you're talking about low-income housing, people see it very difficult to affect change and therefore it could be a very overwhelming task," Millsap said.

He immediately turned to technology, knowing it will open doors for his tenants.

"We wanted to broadcast free Internet and make all these things easy and accessible to help the people that needed help the most," he said.

So Millsap's company purchased an i-Pad, a printer, a phone and converted an old office into a brand-new space for tenants to access the Internet and use office resources for free.

The timing could not have been better timing or more surprising for Millsap who noticed several kids begin to stream in the office with new laptops from Huntsville City Schools.

"All of a sudden you're watching all these kids that have been coming here in the office and now they're carrying laptop bags and using Internet. It was amazing," Millsap said.

Parents like Cynthia Winston said she appreciated the additional resource for her two daughters.

"Oh they love it. They love it," she said.

Managers and landscaping staff also arranged for a community garden within the complex. Millsap said everyone is encouraged to tend the garden and grow fresh produce to eat.

"They've been very responsive to it and very positive attitudes. I've had a lot of offers for people bringing different vegetables to me and wanting me to plant them," said resident Randall Garner.

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