Sheena Saydam admits she didn’t see herself in real estate while studying national security policy at the Schar School of Policy and Government. Nor did the 2009 Master of Public Policy graduate imagine that she would be helping to support a modified trailer that dispenses free showers to the homeless in Baltimore.
But she is. Saydam, managing partner of the DC-based Saydam Properties Group, is also a principal investor in Generosity Shower, a five-stall, mobile shower trailer with a mission to help the homeless “move from a place of crisis to self-sufficiency,” according to the website. The truck launched in April.
The truck is an offshoot of charitable work with Generosity Global, a nonprofit founded by Rich and Erika Akwo, friends of Saydam and her husband Han. In addition to being a major funder of the project, a past client of the Saydam’s real estate business, a design architect, provided pro bono services for the interior of the truck. The Saydam’s loan officer managed to secure 1,000 towels for the truck. “It’s taken a village,” Saydam said of the launch.
Now that she thinks about it, Saydam said veering from policy to real estate “was a natural change in direction. National security policy encourages us to be curious, and to build a successful real estate team in one of the most competitive markets in the world, this piece is critical—and we are always learning and looking for ways to multiply our mission of doing the most good wherever we can.”