Helping our neighbors today.
Building for tomorrow.

Saline Area Social Service outgrew its home on Michigan Avenue and has moved to a larger, more accessible building on the east side of Saline. SASS needs your help to fund our new home! Together we can build a brighter future for our neighbors in need. 

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Pledge

Helping our neighbors today.
Building for tomorrow.

Saline Area Social Service outgrew its home on Michigan Avenue and has moved to a larger, more accessible building on the east side of Saline. SASS needs your help to fund our new home! Together we can build a brighter future for our neighbors in need. 

Donate
Pledge

Helping our neighbors today.

Saline Area Social Service was founded over 60 years ago to provide holiday baskets to those in need in the Saline community. Since then it has evolved into a full-service assistance center. Created by the community, powered by community donors and volunteers, SASS now serves over 400 people per year. 

Building for tomorrow.

The last several years have brought unexpected changes for all of us and a larger facility is needed to continue effective, efficient, and appropriate service to our neighbors in need. 

Our former home in downtown Saline is charming and has a wonderful history, but it wasn’t designed to be a food pantry. Because of space limitations and pandemic-related safety concerns, clients couldn’t enter the building to meet with SASS staff or do their own shopping for over two years.  

Every inch of the two-story house and basement was used for storage, including bathrooms, hallways, offices, kitchen, garage, under staircases, and outdoors on the front and back porches. During peak seasons for food donations, there was no overflow area, and some donations could not be accepted due to the limited space.  

The SASS Board of Directors determined that a larger, more efficient building was essential to maintain our current services and meet the needs of the Saline area. 

 

We are excited to share that we have moved to a property in Wood Duck Business Park, near Saline High School and Walmart. This new location is four times the size of the house on Michigan Avenue and much more accessible. 

The cost for the new location is less than $100 per square foot, in contrast to the $255+ square foot that it would cost to renovate and expand the Michigan Avenue house.  

Our new home provides significantly more room for the pantry, storage, and office space, and everything is located on a single level. This means everything can be housed in a single location and clients are able to do their own shopping again! 

Make a Donation

The people, businesses, and organizations of the Saline area have always responded to opportunities to help our neighbors. SASS depends on annual giving to sustain its day-to-day operations. A New Home for SASS challenges donors to do something extraordinary: give over and above their regular levels until the campaign pledges are fulfilled. Consider helping fund our new home so together we can better support our neighbors in need. 

Donate Now

Help us raise $850,000!

The people, businesses, and organizations of the Saline area have always responded to opportunities to help our neighbors. SASS depends on annual giving to sustain its day-to-day operations, but to expand our ability to serve, we’re also asking the community to make an additional, one-time commitment beyond their regular help fund our new home. 

Donate Now

Raised so far:

82%

Our New Home

1259 Industrial Dr., Saline, MI
(Located in Wood Duck Business Park near Saline High School, Walmart, and other businesses and near US-23 and US-12 Michigan Avenue.)
Building Size: 7,800 SF
Year Built: 2006
Ceiling: 16 ft
Drive-In Bays: 2 Bays
40 Parking Spaces

Latest Updates

Frequently Asked Questions

Saline Area Social Service (SASS) relocated the office and pantry to 1259 Industrial in Wood Duck Park, on Saline’s east side in June 2022. SASS’s new home is near Saline High School, Walmart, and other businesses.  At this new location, SASS continues to serve those living within the boundaries of the Saline School District, as well as individuals living outside of these boundaries but either have a child who attends Saline Area Schools as “School of Choice” or works in Saline. 

  • The former office at 224 W. Michigan in Saline, Michigan, on the west side of town is a house built in 1918 with two small floors and a basement. As SASS increased its responsiveness to our community’s needs, the space needed for service delivery was no longer adequate and efficient. 
  • Over the last few years, SASS’s operations were compromised, volunteer opportunities were limited, and relationships with clients weakened.  The client experience of independently shopping for themselves and having the opportunities to comfortably meet with staff and volunteers did not exist for over two years.  
  • The Board of Directors explored an expansion of the Michigan Avenue location. That option was determined to be prohibitively expensive.  
  • Due diligence determined that the best course of action was to relocate to an existing building. 
  • SASS’s new home meets the Board’s space requirements, can be configured for maximum efficiency, is on a single floor, and is more accessible to clients, volunteers, and staff. As conscientious stewards of this community-funded nonprofit, the board acquired the building for substantially less than the cost to expand and renovate the Michigan Avenue house. 

  • The purchase was completed April 1, 2022.   
  • With the help of countless volunteers, the move to SASS’s new home took place during the last two weeks of June 2022.  
  • All services transitioned to the new location and SASS reopened to clients on July 5, 2022. 

  • SASS is 100% funded by philanthropy. The community created SASS and has supported it for over six decades.   
  • SASS is in the quiet phase of a fundraising campaign to raise $850,000. Those funds are committed to the acquisition of SASS’s new home. The campaign goal also allocates funds for space reconfiguration. These funds will enable SASS to avoid the debt of a mortgage!  
  • As of August 2022, 68% of our campaign goal has been secured in gift commitments.  Every member of the Board of Directors made personal pledges for the campaign, totaling over $100,000. Additional commitments include $150,000 from the Mullick Foundation, $100,000 from the Edward F. Redies Foundation, and $50,000 each from the Towsley Foundation and the Thomas L. Thomas Family Foundation.

  • Consider a one-time, 3-year pledge beyond annual support.   
  • SASS can also accept gifts of stock toward the campaign.  Marketable securities held by a broker may be delivered by wire to us through Charles Schwab. To learn more, contact Roger Raham at rraham@comcast.net. 
  • In addition to funds, in-kind donations for materials and services are encouraged to prepare the new location.  
  • There are many opportunities for volunteers to get involved in other ways, too.   
  • You can learn more by calling (734) 429-4570.

Thank you to our leadership donors.

$150,000 and above

The Mullick Foundation

$100,000 and above

Edward F. Redies Foundation
SASS Board of Directors

$50,000 and above

The Towsley Foundation
Thomas L. Thomas Family Foundation

$25,000 and above

Detter Family Foundation
St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church
The Viera Family Foundation

$10,000 and above

Bank of Ann Arbor
Coach Nick Belanger Assist Fund
The Coughlin Family
Brian & Susan Corcoran
Edward C. Levy Co.
The Rodger & Kate Graef Family Foundation
Keystone Church
Steve & Gretchen Schneider
Bernhardt & Paula Zeiher

Campaign Committee

Roger (Mike) Raham – Committee Co-Chair
John (Jack) Edwards – Committee Co-Chair
Elizabeth Busch
Michael Coughlin
Cheryl Girvan
Tim Gretkierewicz
Nancy Millichap
Steve Schneider