ApartmentsForLegends Celebrates Ribbon Cutting Ceremony with Alabama Chamber of Commerce

In the course of bringing ApartmentsForLegends to the city of Tuscaloosa, the overwhelming majority of our activities involved hard work. One of the best parts of the process was celebrating how far the team had come alongside the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama. In November of 2023, the Chamber hosted the official ribbon-cutting ceremony for ApartmentsForLegends. Many pillars of the community were present to commemorate the occasion. Barkley Garrett, VP of Economic and Community Development for the Chamber, Romel Gibson, the Community Outreach Director for Habitat for Humanity, and more gathered to watch ApartmentsForLegends join Tuscaloosa’s commerce community. Our team felt welcomed with excitement and encouragement as we celebrated our service to Tuscaloosa.

Through their line of work or experiences with their own families, those present for the ribbon cutting understood the value that ApartmentsForLegends brings to Tuscaloosa. Heather McCarley, Director of Sales for Residence Inn Tuscaloosa, shared some of the conversations she has had with parents of Bama students. She shared that a common theme is parents wanting to help their children find an apartment, but feeling unfamiliar with the area and not knowing where to start. She believes our website is a great resource for parents looking for the best apartment for their child in Tuscaloosa. Many others in attendance were enthused about an apartment guide tailored to Tuscaloosa. ApartmentsForLegends is unique in that we have boots on the ground and are familiar with the town, school, and culture. Our local involvement helps us build relationships within the community and create something to help new residents get acclimated to their surroundings.

Beyond just meeting Chamber members, the event and our position within the community allowed us to partner with members and support one another. We have delivered ApartmentsForLegends informational flyers to some local businesses so that they can share those resources with parents and new residents alike. We’ve been incredibly grateful for the support of those Chamber members and hope to help them in the future as they have helped us. It was fantastic to meet so many distinguished members of the community during the ribbon cutting and put faces to names I had become familiar with during my time at Bama. Romel had coordinated with my fraternity to organize volunteer projects, and I had never met him until the ceremony! It was also exciting to tell friends and family about the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of cutting the ribbon during the ceremony. Finally, a go-to answer when somebody asks for a fun fact about me. Between building meaningful connections with other Chamber of Commerce members, celebrating all the hard work thus far, and being given such a unique experience, it would be hard to top that day in early November.