DETROIT —Hundreds of volunteers from Catholic parishes and schools across Metro Detroit, decked out in grey T-shirts, descended upon the Boston-Edison neighborhood for a week of mowing, weed whacking and overall service to the Detroit community.

The Archdiocese of Detroit provided an estimated 775 volunteers from various parishes and schools, including neighboring Sacred Heart Major Seminary, registered to participate in Life Remodeled, Oct. 1-6, a community service project dedicated to cleaning up city lots surrounding Durfee Elementary-Middle Schools and Central High School.

On Tuesday, Oct. 2, more than 400 students from University of Detroit Jesuit High School participated in the project.

“I’m out here to help clean up the community and make Detroit a nicer place,” said Michael Mann, a U of D-Jesuit student and member of St. Colette Parish in Livonia. “It feels great to get out and do nice things for Detroit; it’s where we spend most of our time out of school. We want to see Detroit get better, and it is getting better, and this just helps us bond together as a school.”

Throughout the week, volunteers from various parishes, high schools, Sacred Heart Major Seminary and the Central Services offices of the Archdiocese of Detroit will be out cleaning brush, mowing lawns, cutting down dead trees and improving the aesthetics of the neighborhood.

On Friday, faculty, staff and students from Sacred Heart joined the efforts, taking pride in cleaning up the neighborhood that surrounds their campus.

"We're participating in Life Remodeled for a second year, this is a wonderful opportunity for us to engage in the neighborhood and be with people," said Msgr. Tod Lajiness, rector and president of Sacred Heart Major Seminary. "We're going to be celebrating 100 years in Detroit, and that is a long time we've been an integral part of the community. Our place here is more than just being a center of education, but being a center for community."

Since 2014, 42,232 volunteers have worked to remodel four schools, repair 184 homes, board up 1,622 houses and beautify 1,273 city blocks. In total, the nonprofit has raised $21 million for the project.

This year’s effort is the second year of the Durfee Innovation Society project, which seeks to mow overgrown brush and clear 100 alleyways, plant 100 flowering trees, build two community gardens, install three new bus shelters and five grill and picnic tables and additional signage around Durfee and Central High School, which will be used as an incubator for entrepreneurs and community development.

“I’m out here today to support the school (U of D Jesuit), but also to volunteer and boost the city by opening up some dark areas,” said Christina Holt, a member of Sacred Heart Parish in Detroit. “There are a bunch of overgrown trees and rubbish we’re getting rid of today. This is service; service is what Jesus was about, and there are many different ways to do that.”

Donning shirts with the archdiocesan crest and “Unleash the Gospel” on the back, volunteers used the services project as a chance to break away from the day-to-day routine of work or school and bring Christ’s presence to others in a new way.

Lisa Neale, a college counselor at U of D Jesuit, was thrilled to see her students outside of the classroom setting, living out the Jesuit motto: “Men for Others.”

“The Jesuits want to create and educate 'men for others,' teaching them to do things for others and how important service is,” Neale said.

Since Life Remodeled started in 2014, neighborhoods that have hosted projects have had a 47 percent decrease in homicides, 21 percent decrease in sexual assaults, 19 percent decrease in aggravated assaults and 19 percent decrease in burglaries.

“Our school is in the city,” Neale said. “We want to keep the city safe, and we want our students to understand what the city is like around them. We hope by doing this project, they can help out their city. Even if it’s mowing lawns or cutting down trees, it’s nice to see them outside the classroom, making a difference.”

For the men in formation at Sacred Heart, Detroit has become a second home to them, and Life Remodeled is a chance to give back to a city that plays an important role in their priestly formation.

"I'm from the Upper Peninsula, so moving to Detroit was a pretty big change for me, but this is a really good opportunity for evangelization and spending time outside, working with your hands," said Tom Merkel, a third-year Theology seminarian from the Diocese of Marquette. "Being a seminarian, we study a lot and have a lot of intellectual formation, which is really important. But following the example of Christ, He was a carpenter too, so we need to go out to preach and be with people, to work side by side with them."

For priests, seminarians and laity alike, Life Remodeled was a way to "Unleash the Gospel" through service, showing working on removing physical weeds and debris, in turn gives people a chance to meditate and consider the personal, spiritual debris in one's life.

"Labor is always a good thing, it forces us to be in the moment," said Natalia Cappella, who works with the Institute for Lay Ministry at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. "For me, it is good to fully focus on the work I"m doing and not be distracted. Labor gives you the ability to be fully in the moment and not be distracted with the outside world. It's finding God in the daily."

In addition to finding spiritual solace in work, providing service to one's neighbor and the surrounding community is part of Christ's Great Commission to go out and preach the word of God, in both word and deed.

“It’s a blessing to be able to help others,” Holt said. “As you are working, you’re thinking about those that maybe don’t have as much as you and you ask how can we help. Again, it’s just following what God wants us to do: to be there for others and be there to do God’s work.”