Sometimes the clearest expression of shared values happens outside the workplace. This year in Leeds, Sentinel Managing Director, Karen Charde, and Rob Maleszewski, Senior Vice President, joined colleagues from Hearthstone Investments for the team’s annual volunteer day supporting Leeds Action to Create Homes (LATCH).
Hearthstone and Sentinel team members came together to work with LATCH at Brixworth Country Park in rural Northamptonshire
Their participation brought together two complementary approaches to community engagement across Sentinel and Hearthstone – Sentinel’s We Connect program and Hearthstone’s longstanding relationship with LATCH.
Through We Connect, Sentinel’s onsite teams support local organizations in the communities where they work, with initiatives ranging from school supply and food drives to animal shelter donations, environmental projects and partnerships with nonprofits serving residents and neighbors in need. Hearthstone brings a similar hands-on approach in the UK through its relationship with LATCH, which began in 2022.
LATCH is a Leeds-based charitable organization that refurbishes derelict and run-down houses in the Chapeltown, Harehills and Burley areas of the city. Once properties are fully modernized and furnished, they provide supported housing for people who are homeless or in housing need.
The organization’s work combines housing with broader community support. LATCH says there are more than 3,000 empty properties in Leeds and around 5,000 people who are homeless or in urgent housing need. Its work transforming unused properties into homes and providing training opportunities relies on support from businesses, individuals, trusts and grants.
For Hearthstone, LATCH’s mission has a natural connection to a business centered on housing and the communities around it. The relationship also extends beyond the annual volunteer day: in the run-up to Christmas 2025, Hearthstone supported LATCH’s food bank through contributions from the company, employees, shareholders and contractors.
Sentinel’s We Connect program reflects the same emphasis on practical, locally driven support. Across its communities, onsite teams work with schools, food pantries, animal shelters, environmental groups and other nonprofits to respond to needs identified by residents, neighbors and local partners.
Rob and Karen of Sentinel’s US office and Ben and Cedric of the UK all pitched in hazel coppicing, a woodland management practice that promotes biodiversity by creating diverse habitats for wildlife, plants and insects
Together, Hearthstone’s work with LATCH and Sentinel’s We Connect efforts show how community engagement can take different forms while reflecting a shared commitment to service, partnership and local impact.
That shared approach has become increasingly relevant as Sentinel and Hearthstone grow together. It offers opportunities for colleagues across the organization to learn from established local relationships while finding new ways to contribute their own time and experience.
For Karen Charde and Rob Malezsewski, joining Hearthstone’s volunteer day was one example of that connection in action. More broadly, it illustrates how teams operating in different markets can find common ground through service and a shared commitment to the communities around them.
Whether through We Connect in the U.S. or Hearthstone’s work with LATCH in the UK, the principle is much the same: strong communities are built through participation, partnership and people willing to lend a hand.
Learn more about Sentinel’s Sustainability efforts as well as our Global Platform.
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