We were fortunate to have Shontell Gauthier join us as Executive Director of RBJ Senior Housing. Shontell brings extensive experience in senior services and affordable housing to this role. She previously served as a Senior Director at Family Eldercare where she served for 18 years in a variety of roles. Among her many contributions, Shontell oversaw the rehabilitation of a city owned hotel into 78 units of permanent supportive housing for older adults.
Shontell Gauthier is a person of vision and action, and is leading RBJ through a strategic planning process that will keep us focused on mission and on identifying the steps needed to advance the “Lady Bird” and the “Rebekah” as thriving senior communities and to increase the amount of quality affordable housing for seniors in the Autin area. While Shontell is responsible for all aspects of what RBJ does (such as overseeing the recently completed renovation of the Rebekah, and meeting frequently with the RBJ Board of Directors and its committees), her primary focus has been the experience our residents are having at RBJ. Those residents are the reason RBJ was developed and opened in 1973, and have endured a lengthy transition as we started planning for the “new RBJ” in 2010 and then conducted two (2) major construction projects (the 279 unit Lady Bird commenced in 2019 and completed in 2022, and the renovation of the 234 unit Rebekah commenced in 2023 and completed in the fall of 2025), both of which took place while our residents continued to live at RBJ.
As Executive Director of the RBJ, Shontell works closely with our partner and property manager Diana McIver & Associates, to see to it that RBJ residents are safe and secure, that they have access to healthy food through the food pantry on site, that the proper amount of rent is charged and collected, that lease renewals are handled smoothly , that resident complaints and questions are promptly answered, and that RBJ offers a fulsome range of resident services. Since she arrived in August of 2024, Shontell has added several key team members who are critical to the functioning of RBJ. You can learn more about our growing team here.
Additional priorities for the rest of 2026 include leasing up both buildings, The Ladybird and The Rebekah, with a combined total of 503 apartments, most of which are affordable for older adults with low and moderate incomes.
Also, we’re focused on streamlining our communications and online presence so that the community can stay connected and get involved with many of the exciting projects going on at RBJ. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn for all the latest updates.
