HAYDEN - Beth Poirier is the kind of apartment manager who is missed by her tenants when she is gone over the weekend.

Poirier manages the Sarah Street Apartments at 9359 N. Government Way in Hayden, which houses people who are disabled or are 62 and older. She also manages Lakeview Village and Mathews Apartments, which are for families.

She recently won the 2015 Idaho Multi-Family Housing Site Manager of the Year award.

"It's a good feeling," Poirier said. "It's an appreciation for what I try and provide to my tenants. I try and give them a safe and comfortable place to live - and it's their home and that's important to me."

She is now in the running for the national award.

She was nominated by her residents and Idaho Rural Development, which is under the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Rural development makes loans for apartment complexes and provides rental assistance for low-income families.

She managed the three apartments from 2004 to the fall of 2013, then moved to Montana. She moved back to North Idaho and has been managing them again the past year-and-a-half.

Poirier said she loves helping people.

"It's kind of fun," she said. "You get a family come in, or a single mom (or) single dad - they come in, they need the help, they get up on their feet and then they move on."

She helps families with their daily bills, and she works to make sure they are getting the appropriate amount of rental assistance.

She has been working in property management since 2000.

"She is very understanding, she is very sympathetic," said Jean Leckner, a four-year resident of Sarah Street Apartments. "She helps you with your finances if you need it. She helps you with everything. If she can't help you, she'll find somebody who will."

Leckner, among others, nominated Poirier. So did 97-year-old Betty Lokay.

"She knows just how to handle each person, which is wonderful," said Lokay, who has been a resident of Sarah Street for nearly five years.