Local Businesses + Organizations Making an Impact in Sacramento

It’s easy to watch the news or scroll through Facebook and forget all the good going on in our world. Sacramento is filled with a number of local businesses and organizations making a big impact on the community. And “making an impact” comes in all shapes and sizes — from providing agricultural education to empowering women, and providing shelter and food for the needy to hosting community events.

Take a look at the local shops, restaurants, organizations, and various businesses making a difference in Sacramento. Consider standing beside them to further their efforts!

Joshua’s House

Joshua’s House is the first hospice house for terminally ill men and women who are homeless on the West Coast and the seventh in the country. It will be located in Sacramento and will open in the late fall of 2019. Their mission is to provide a home-like facility, hospice care, meals, clothing and love for those who would otherwise die on the street. Joshua’s House is one of the many organizations Lyon supported in 2018 through the Lyon Cares Foundation.

Preservation Sacramento

Photo Courtesy of Don Cox via Preservation Sacramento

Preservation Sacramento is dedicated to protecting the city’s historic places and encouraging quality urban design through advocacy, outreach, and activism. This membership-based non-profit dates back to 1972, and has since been working tirelessly in the community to preserve the many historic buildings in our midst. They “envision a Sacramento where citizens advocate for careful use of our diverse historic resources and understand the economic and social benefits of historic preservation.”

Art Beast

Waking the Village is a nonprofit that offers housing and support to Sacramento’s young homeless parents and their children. The organization launched Art Beast to generate funding for their Tubman House program, which offers a holistic program centered on youth development, the strengthening of physical and mental health, educational attainment, career development, and financial management.

Visiting Art Beast, a kids’ art studio in Midtown, helps support this incredible mission focused on empowering families. You can even get involved with youth volunteer opportunities, make a donation, help the families in the Waking the Village program, or use your talents to fix, make, or plan something for Art Beast or the residents at WTV.

Mulvaney’s B&L

Photo Courtesy of Rudy Meyers Photography via Mulvaney’s B&L

If you’ve been a Lyon Local reader for a while now, you’re no stranger to Mulvaney’s B&L. In fact, we included owners Patrick and Bobbin Mulvaney in our special Valentine’s Day feature highlighting “power couples” in the community. These two are involved in the community in a number of ways, including mentoring fellow restaurateurs, providing meals for the needy, promoting environmental sustainability, helping with women business mentorship, and much more. The Mulvaneys have been recognized with an impressive number of awards for their philanthropic efforts, such as the 2015 Volunteer of the Year from the Sac Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Restaurant Neighbor Award for Outstanding Community Service from the California Restaurant Association, an award for Outstanding Contribution to the Foundation from the James Beard Foundation, and more.

Old Soul Co.

With several locations throughout the region, Old Soul Co. is a coffee shop focused on community and craft coffee. They are dedicated to celebrating farmers and artisans around the globe, providing a platform for them to be recognized for the hard work, passion, and unparalleled artistry they put into their craft. And on a local level, the team at Old Soul is heavily involved in the community, taking part in a number of outreach opportunities, including donating to local charities and various educational causes.

Mikuni

Photo Courtesy of Jeremy Skyes Photography via Mikuni

Mikuni is more than just an excellent source for sushi in the region. This popular eatery has established the Mikuni Charitable Organization to help improve and enrich the lives of the people in Sacramento. They regularly sponsor events to raise funds for a host of noble causes, from at-risk adult health conditions to children’s safety, and veteran services to faith-based causes. Get more details about Mikuni’s community involvement and check out their long list of beneficiaries from 2018!

Unseen Heroes

Just like the name implies, Unseen Heroes is a marketing, event and public relations company running a number of successful events from behind the scenes. In fact, you may have encountered an Unseen Heroes event without even realizing it; the organization is responsible for planning, promoting and running some of the city’s finest events, including Gather: Oak Park, the Midtown Farmers’ Market, and GOOD: street food and design market. The husband and wife duo that started Unseen Heroes are passionate about leaving a positive mark on Sacramento, fostering a sense of community and togetherness, and creating unforgettable experiences all the while. Learn more about Maritza and Roshaun Davis, one of our favorite “power couples” in Sacramento.

Dress for Success Sacramento

Dress for Success is a non-profit organization that empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire, and developmental tools to help women thrive in work and in life. They are focused exclusively on empowering and serving disadvantaged women to compete for jobs, build careers and improve the quality of life for their families.

Casa Garden

Since opening its doors in 1974, Casa Garden has been a community gathering place — and an excellent venue for weddings and events. But the mission of Casa Garden goes well beyond providing a delicious meal in a gorgeous garden setting. Casa Garden directly benefits the Sacramento Children’s Home and is completely run by volunteers. Over the years, Casa Garden has been responsible for donating more than $2.69 million to the Sacramento Children’s Home!

Downtown Sacramento Partnership

Photo Courtesy of Nicholas Wray via the Downtown Sacramento Partnership

It’s hard to be in downtown Sacramento and not notice the incredible impact the Downtown Sacramento Partnership has made. And if you’ve been in the city for more than a decade, you have certainly seen the city evolve and grow in remarkable ways. Since 1995, the DSP has served as the voice of downtown, leading the revitalization of the urban core. They are deeply dedicated to making downtown Sacramento a better place to live, work, play and invest. In the last 10 years, more than $1 billion in both private and public investments have been made — and that is just the beginning.

Soil Born Farms

Soil Born Farms is an urban farm with an important mission. They are focused on empowering youth and adults to discover and participate in a local food system that encourages healthy living, nurtures the environment, and grows a sustainable community. Soil Born Farms is passionate about creating local organic farms and gardens accessible to the public, developing a food and environmental education program for youth and adults, addressing food security needs in the community, and helping people reconnect with the land.

GRAS

Photo Courtesy of GRAS

Green Restaurants Alliance Sacramento (GRAS) is dedicated to growing a sustainable food community in the city. Their mission is to educate and inspire Sacramentans to care for its waste stream, using it as a resource to build organic gardens and green climate-resilient landscapes in each neighborhood. Their community composting program, ReSoil Sacramento, is a pedal-powered community compost network that collects food scraps from 17 restaurants to build healthy soil at more than 24 urban farms and community, school, and church gardens.

Sacramento Theatre Company

In addition to their involvement in the professional theatre and theatre arts education, the Sacramento Theatre Company believes in giving back to the community. They regularly support the many worthy causes in the region, welcoming donation requests for non-profit fundraising purposes. Supporting the theatre means you are both supporting the local arts community and the various causes they stand behind.

SMUD

SMUD is a community-owned, not-for-profit electric service, providing over 1.5 million customers with reliable electricity at affordable rates. This unique business model means the needs of the community are at the core of every decision made. SMUD awards $40–60 million every year to local small businesses and helps bring new jobs to the region on a regular basis. Plus, they partner with the Sacramento Tree Foundation to grant free shade trees that help beautify neighborhoods and improve air quality.

Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen

The Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen is a community-centered bicycle shop focused on serving the residents of Sacramento. The organization was formed to promote cycling as a low-cost alternative form of transportation, enable self-sufficiency through knowledge of bicycle maintenance, and encourage bicycle safety through education. SBK is focused on making bicycle maintenance, repair and training more widely available to everyone, regardless of skill level. They accept small cash donations in exchange for the many services and tools they offer.

And there’s more!

Looking for more local organizations to support? In 2018, we supported these incredible non-profits through the Lyon Cares Foundation.

Operated by Lyon Real Estate, the Lyon Cares Foundation offers time, talent and treasure to local nonprofits that make their communities a better place. Funds are raised through escrow and payroll contributions by Lyon agents and staff in addition to our annual golf tournament. Each of our offices gave a $5,000 grant to two organizations, encompassing a total of $150,000 in grants given through Lyon Cares.