Housing and Resident Service Coordination: An Interview with Kate Cantwell
Apr 29, 2025
In honor of this week's 27th Annual NERSC Conference—and the vital work of Resident Service Coordinators—we’re revisiting an earlier conversation with Kate Cantwell, Executive Director of New England Resident Service Coordinators, Inc. (NERSC). Originally published last fall, this conversation remains just as relevant today, underscoring how housing connects to health, community stability, and opportunity.
There’s a quiet but profound shift happening within the world of resident services coordination, and Kate Cantwell, the new Executive Director of New England Resident Services Coordinators, Inc. (NERSC), is helping to lead the charge. After stepping into the role in 2024, Cantwell has wasted no time in sharpening NERSC’s focus on the broader importance of affordable housing within resident service coordination.
Cantwell’s approach is one shaped by experience and a deep understanding of community engagement, most recently reflected in her work with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Working Places Challenge in Newport, Rhode Island, which she describes a pivotal moment in her career.
As Cantwell points out, the resident services coordinator (RSC) field is evolving, and NERSC is committed to empowering RSCs to thrive in an increasingly complex environment. This means reducing burnout, fostering collaboration between RSCs and other housing staff, and helping to raise the voices of residents in policy discussions.
In an industry where the challenges often feel insurmountable—tight budgets, uncertain funding streams, and rising demands on resident services—Cantwell is focused on what’s possible. It’s a vision that’s not just about housing, but about creating healthier, more resilient communities.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Marcus Smith: Your experience includes leadership in initiatives like the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Working Places challenge. How have these experiences shaped your approach to strategic planning and community engagement at NERSC?
Kate Cantwell: My experience with Working Cities was transformative. There’s a difference between more transactional community engagement versus having real representation, where the rules, the process, the meetings are structured for the resident voice to shine and come through.
[The latter] takes time. It requires trust building and transforming how we think about just having a meeting. I take that philosophy with me.
MS: You have expressed an interest in sharpening NERSC’s focus on the broader importance of affordable housing in resident services coordination. What does that shift look like in practice?
KC: Our former executive director and our staff and Board did a phenomenal job preparing for this transition. Historically, conversations have happened in different pockets about RSCs’ impact and how they can support residents across systems, whether its with food stability or community health or access to green spaces. Part of NERSC’s role is to work with others to demonstrate measurable impact of resident service coordination by highlighting the actual monetary benefits of having an RSC at your property.
MS: That type of upstream thinking – looking at the big picture – seems like housing is somewhat uniquely positioned to tackle. How do you see the relationship between affordable housing and resident service coordination evolving, especially as housing challenges continue to intensify across Connecticut?
KC: The pandemic highlighted the divide many RSCs face. On the one hand, there are residents who are connected to someone, some organization where there is a relationship of trust and means of communication, where they can access more resources, versus residents who are more isolated and are not connected with community and have no understanding of what resources exist for them. The pandemic helped us recognize the importance of affordable housing partners working with RSCs to ensure people do not fall off the map. It’s a critical relationship that needs to grow over the next two years.
MS: With that two-year timeframe in mind, what are some specific initiatives or partnerships NERSC is particularly excited about?
KC: NERSC has been the premier source for RSC training for some time and we know how to do it well. But over the past two or three years, about 1/3 of our conference attendees are new to the field. So at each annual conference, that’s an influx between 125 to 200 individuals. That needs exploration and understanding. What is happening there in terms of the stability of the position? Is it burnout? Is it switching positions? And how can we support them when they leave the conference? Later this year, NERSC will release a new strategic plan that will look at investing in member experiences to help support resident service coordinators in between our amazing conferences.
Another central piece of our strategic plan is raising the voice of residents through our resident service coordinators -- building transformative relationships and sharing information from those at the front lines to policymakers at the local, state, and nation levels.
MS: Speaking directly to the CONN NAHRO audience, how do you envision strengthening relationships between NERSC and housing authorities across Connecticut to create more integrated services for residents?
KC: Resident service coordinators are not successful alone, and it takes building relationships with supervisors, property managers, facilities directors, and breaking down those silos that have naturally grown within the housing industry for people to understand how their positions are really not that far away from each other. Our goals and values are mutually aligned: we both want to bring housing stability to our residents, we want to them to have a high quality of life. And you need a stable team to make those goals reality.
NERSC can help decrease the isolation that some of our RSCs might feel in their work and bring resources to help them navigate the challenges they're having day-to-day on the ground.
We’re reaching an inflection point where the relationships need to be deeply embedded between policymakers at the top and those on the front lines who serve our residents, and NERSC wants to be a collaborator to help raise those voices up and build those relationships.
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Marcus Smith is the Director of Research, Marketing, and Outreach at the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA), where he helps drive statewide impact through data-informed strategies and compelling storytelling. With over two decades in mission-driven roles, Marcus has dedicated his career to expanding access to affordable, stable housing. His prior experience includes leadership in healthy housing initiatives at Connecticut Children's Medical Center and community development with Sheldon Oak Central. He holds a BA from the University of New Hampshire and an MBA from the University of Connecticut.