Supporting the Baltimore Station at the Homerun for Recovery

On a warm spring night, people of all walks of life came out to Nick’s Fish House at Cross Street Market to support the Baltimore Station.  The annual Homerun for Recovery is always a great event complete with delicious food, drinks and an exciting live auction. The Michael Group was proud to the lead sponsor for this year’s fundraiser!

Keith Mills was the MC for the event. He shared his own personal story of addiction and praised the Baltimore Station for the great work they do every day to help men in recovery.

From left to right: Sebastian Soriano, The Michael Group, John Batz, the Michael Group, Michael Seipp, ED of the Baltimore Station, Keith Mills, Jeff Hill, The Michael Group, Del. Brian McHale, Michael Shacklette, The Michael Group

Congratulations to the Baltimore Station and thank you for your important work!

The Michael Group Wins GEDCO’s Partner of the Year

On a cold, damp Spring night, a huge crowd gathers in St Mary’s Church Hall in Govans for GEDCO’s Annual meeting. While this is primarily a business meeting, this year the GEDCO staff has added an fun filled line up including Ms Beverly Burke as MC, special award ceremonies and the GEDCO’s Got Talent Talent Show. 

This year marks the 20^th year that GEDCO, Govans Ecumenical Development Corporation, has been serving the needs of low-income elderly residents of North/Central Baltimore. Their work attracts support from religious congregations of all denominations as well as businesses, neighborhood associations and residents themselves. You could tell by listening to songs, stories and more how important GEDCO is in the lives of those who were attending and to the community outside St Mary’s doors.

About half way through the evening, Perry Savoy, Vice President of the Board of Directors, stood to announce the Partner of the Year Award. “Each year, GEDCO recognizes a very special organization whose partnership greatly enhances the success of our work to build caring and compassionate communities. This year it is my honor to present our Partner Award to The Michael Group”

Left to Right: Ellen Frost, The Michael Group, Mitch Posner, GEDCO, Michael Shacklette, the Michael Group, Perry Savoy, GEDCO, Jeff Hill, The Michael Group

Michael Shacklette, President of the Michael Group Inc General Contractors in Baltimore has been a supporter of GEDCO for the past three years. Last year, Michael headed up the GEDCO ThanksGiving Tribute fundraising committee. While the committee was successful, raising a record amount of funds to support GEDCO’s operations, Michael wanted to do more. This year, Michael is heading up a year long campaign to secure corporate sponsors and major gifts that will allow GEDCO to continue the important, life saving work they are doing.

“Having gone to elementary school here in Govans, I feel like I still have a connection to the well being of the neighborhood” says Micahel Shacklette. “Since I began the Michael Group Inc nine years ago, we have committed ourselves to building affordable housing and supporting non-profits like GEDCO that are provide housing and services for low-income and elderly residents of our community. I am honored to receive the GEDCO Partner of the Year award.”.

The evening ended with laughing and dancing and celebrating the good works of GEDCO. The Michael Group is so proud to be a part of this amazing organization!

Celebrating a New Beginning at the St Stephen’s Court Apartments

Last Thursday, the new community building at the St. Stephen’s Court Apartments was filled to capacity. Residents chatted with architects, developers laughed with construction workers; despite the bad weather, everyone in attendance was full of joy. The renovation work at the St. Stephen’s Court Apartments was complete-and the property looked amazing!

Commissioner Graziano praising the work at St Stephen’s

The Michael Group began work at St. Stephen’s back in July. Since then, the transformation at the property has been striking. Residential units which had not been upgraded since the 70’s, were given a complete overhaul. New kitchens, flooring and fixtures were installed in addition to new windows, HVAC systems and doors. Common hallways were upgraded with new flooring and paint as well as a state of the art security system. Outside, all the entryways were updated with new siding, canopies and glass.

For 40 years, the residents of St Stephen’s had no community space where they could meet, hang out, socialize and have community get-togethers. All that has changed now that the community building has been built. This beautiful building, centrally located on what used to be empty space in the middle of the complex, is now the central meeting place of the residents. It’s filled with natural light, soothing colors and comfy furniture.

Dan McCarthy, Executive Director of Episcopal Housing Corporation MC’d the event. As the developer, Episcopal Housing brought the Michael Group in to the project early on to ensure a successful project. Sure enough, the project  was completed with months to spare, under budget, and with many happy residents.

The Michael Group staff was brimming with pride as Dan told the crowd about the positive experience he had working with the Michael Group. We were especially proud of the great work of Project Manager Jeff Hill and Superintendent Sebastian Soriano. This is the second large scale project that Jeff and Sebastian completed together. The first was the Monte Verde Apartments. Jeff and Sebastian are like a well oiled machine. Any owner interested in doing “resident in place” renovation would be lucky to work with this team!

Thanks to everyone who made this project such a great success-especially the Developer, Episcopal Housing Corporation; the architect, Marks, Thomas Architects and everyone at the Michael Group! Great work everyone!