Raleigh reports a cheaper internal service desk with ServiceNow AI. The next test is whether that efficiency reaches residents—and whether a person is still there when automation fails.
IMT Residential grew from 62 apartments and one employee into a nine-state operator by treating the unglamorous details - maintenance calls, team training and online reviews - as the product. Its new Citrus Commons development shows what happens when that operating discipline meets architecture.
Ounce of Care (brand name: Ounce) is a New York-based company building the tech-enabled resident services layer for affordable housing. It embeds on-site Community Navigators and virtual care teams inside apartment communities, then uses its Ounce Hub platform to enroll residents in public benefits like SNAP and Medicaid, coordinate health and social services, and run educational programming. The result is a rare win-win: residents get stability and support, and property owners get better retention, occupancy, and asset performance.
Rachel Munsie is the CEO and co-founder of Ounce of Care (Ounce), a tech-enabled resident services platform that connects people living in affordable housing to public benefits, health and social care coordination, and community programming. A former Goldman Sachs banker and private equity investor who left MIT Sloan to help build home-health startup Tomorrow Health, she launched Ounce to close the gap between where people live and the care they can actually reach. In October 2023 the company raised $5.2M in seed funding led by Meridian Street Capital and Flare Capital, with backers including Chelsea Clinton's Metrodora Ventures, Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta, and Unite Us co-founder Taylor Justice.
Kaizen (Kaizen Labs) is a New York-based civic technology company building modern, people-first software for America's essential public services. Its AI-native, highly configurable SaaS platform replaces aging legacy systems across permitting, parks and recreation, licensing, transit, payments, and resident engagement. Founded by Nikhil Reddy and KJ Shah, Kaizen partners with local, state, and federal agencies to give residents consumer-grade digital experiences - from reserving a campsite to renewing a license - while restoring public trust in government services.
The John Stewart Company (JSCo) is a San Francisco-based, full-service affordable and mixed-income housing organization. Founded in 1978 by John Stewart, it has grown into one of California's largest affordable housing managers, handling roughly 31,000 units across the state through integrated property management, development, construction, and financial services - with a parallel mission of delivering resident services and supportive housing for vulnerable populations.