The Sachse Construction team sees a Detroit where opportunity and potential are accessible to all. With this vision in mind, we can better focus on our mission: Contribute to a thriving Detroit by empowering and investing in organizations that support youth, workforce development, and community.
In 2021, the Sachse Social Mission Committee led a team member community that volunteered over 1,000+ hours, collected over 1,000 items for our hygiene drive, and donated over $15,000 to support the following eight local Detroit, not-for-profit organizations through in-kind, financial, and volunteer initiatives:
- Life Remodeled
- L!FE Leaders
- The Center for Urban Youth and Family Development
- The Children’s Center
- Legacy Development Foundation
- Capuchin Soup Kitchen
- Academy of Warren
- Habitat for Humanity Detroit: Critical Home Repair Program
Dive deeper into how the Sachse Social Mission Committee supported these organizations in the select recaps below.
Building More Than a Playground
After spending most of 2020 in quarantine, the committee was eager to jump back into in-person volunteer efforts in 2021. The year got off to a great start when we were presented with an opportunity to build a community playground for the Academy of Warren (AOW).
AOW had contracted Sachse Construction for a $9.7M expansion of their existing school facility, but unfortunately, this project did not include a budget for a playground. Sachse Construction teamed up with AOW to spearhead the community build of a custom-designed, state-of-the-art playground.
The playground’s design, brainstormed by Academy of Warren students, was brought to life by a labor of love from Sachse Construction and is now an important piece of the school’s five-acre outdoor transformation.
With the help of 275 community volunteers over three weeks, including over 150 team members from Sachse Construction, the committee:
- Fundraised over $18,000
- Solicited over $75,000 of in-kind labor and materials from local trade partners
- Donated a full-time Superintendent to manage the job.
Providing Food for People in Need
During July, the Sachse Social Mission worked together to donate a brand-new commercial-grade refrigerator and freezer to Capuchin Soup Kitchen, one of Detroit’s largest community support and outreach organizations. The organization plans to use the donation to support their food services, through which they serve thousands of meals each day.
Tearing Down Walls
In August, the committee invited team members to help build affordable housing for local families with Habitat for Humanity Detroit. Five of our team members participated in the not-for-profit’s Critical Home Repair Program. Our team members worked on the indoor demolition of a Detroit home. After a day well spent, all rooms, open living spaces, including the kitchen and bathroom, were demoed properly and ready for the next group of volunteers to continue to process.
Supporting Detroit’s Neighborhoods
In October, the committee participated in Life Remodeled’s Six Day Project. The project’s goal is to mobilize a large group of volunteers every year to beautify four square miles of a Detroit neighborhood in need.
This year, the committee, alongside several team members, joined almost 4,000 other volunteers to clear blight from vacant properties in the neighborhood surrounding the Durfee Innovation Society. With a few lawnmowers, some hedge clippers, and a great deal of determination, they were able to bring a new life to the neighborhood.
Helping Local Students
The committee hosted a drive for school supplies and hygiene items following the summer floods in October. At the end of the drive, the committee donated each of these collected items to The Children’s Center, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to working with children who struggle with behavioral, emotional, educational, intellectual, and developmental challenges. In total, our team made an in-kind donation of over 1,000 items.
If you know a Detroit-based 501(c)(3) organization doing important work supporting youth, workforce development, and community, please contact the Sachse Social Mission Committee Co-Chairs: Samantha Russo (srusso@sachse.net), Nichole Josey (njosey@sachse.net), and Amanda Bastien (abastien@sachse.net) to get involved.
The Sachse Social Mission Committee spearheads Sachse Construction’s contribution to Detroit through wide-ranging philanthropic initiatives. The committee of 18 passionate team members donates their time and efforts to foster our mission of contributing to a thriving Detroit by empowering and investing in organizations that support youth, workforce development, and community.
