Extreme Teams Volunteer of the Month - March 2026

Mar 16

Steve Krause is the March “Extreme Teams Volunteer of the Month!” When Harlan was faced with nominating someone for this month, he decided to feature Steve because of his work on the ECM tool shed makeover. Steve is on the Projects Team, as well as volunteering for the West Colfax neighborhood festival. His commitment and hard work are always appreciated on Work Days. On days when Steve is an Extreme Teams volunteer, he can be seen driving the ECM truck, packing the dumpster, and keeping the volunteers safe from black widows. Keep reading to hear more from Steve about his experience with Extreme Community Makeover.

**How did you first hear get involved in Extreme Community Makeover?**
Steve has always taken a lot of pride in his home, and he volunteers with many organizations that have this value in common with him. So as a community oriented guy, ECM was a natural fit. He began doing Work Days as an individual, and then joined the Projects Team in 2023. “I've always taken a lot of pride in my own home. And I've always been a community person. ECM fit.” Aside from volunteering with ECM, he also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, Metro Caring, and Food Bank of the Rockies.

What is your favorite story about connecting with volunteers?

Some days stand out due to the groups that volunteer. Steve is particularly fond of constructions companies. The volunteers are hardworking and get a lot done in a short amount of time. In 2024 a group from Spyder Construction volunteered and took on several projects, including a very overgrown backyard. “They showed up with a bunch of people, a bunch of trucks, a bunch of tools, and they went to town on this yard. The before and afters… we were all sort of standing there going, wow. Holy cow. It was so far above and beyond of what we normally see, and it was just one of those kinds of things that you can see what the potential can be.”

**How do you see the Projects Team making an impact during Work Days?**

The before and afters are huge to Steve, but what matters most to him in the Projects Team role is safety. “We provide all this guidance. The safety part is something I hold dear because it's what I grew up in between the Marine Corps and oil and gas, everything was about safety.” Steve works hard to make sure that the volunteers are safe on the Work Day, but he also is focused on making ECM neighborhoods safer. “The one thing that I remember the most is cleaning up a lot of broken glass in an alley right behind a house where there were six kids playing. And you're just getting rid of bad, hurtful things, and you can see right there why.”

How do you see ECM making an impact in Denver neighborhoods?

Steve is proud of the work that ECM completes. “The proof is in the pudding. It's those results. It's looking back after a Work Day. It's obvious that we've been there and touched that.” In all of Steve’s volunteering, he is focused on making sure that people have a safe, healthy and comfortable environment. For ECM, that looks like cleaning up trash in neighborhoods and leaving them safer than when the day started. “I think we have a lot of impact as an entire organization.”

Why do you think it is important / beneficial to volunteer?

Like many of the other ECM Extreme Teams volunteers of the month, volunteering is a part of who Steve is. “For me, it's just a sense of responsibility as a citizen, as a community member, as a person. We should all just be doing more of this.” Steve would like to see more people spending their time and money helping others, and finds it interesting that he sees the same volunteers across all the organizations he volunteers with. “That whole sense of citizenship, I just wish it instilled that more in others.”