IFF, a mission-driven lender, real estate consultant, and developer, along with Matrix Human Services, a nonprofit social services organization and early childhood educator have opened the McClellan Early Childhood Center in the Gratiot Woods neighborhood on the East Side of Detroit.
Located on the site where Detroit Public Schools’ Pingree Elementary once operated, the 15,000-square-foot facility at 3917 McClellan Ave. features eight classrooms that provide 96 new seats for early learners in the community, helping to close a 521-seat gap in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Offering Head Start and Early Head Start programs, McClellan will welcome its first students by October 2024.
“The McClellan Early Childhood Center is a milestone in our mission to transform Head Start early childhood education in Detroit,” says Brad Coulter, CEO of Matrix. “By providing a new state of the art facility right in the heart of Gratiot Woods, we are setting a foundation for our children’s future success. This facility is not just a school; it’s a commitment to our community.”
Funding and financing for the $8.75 million project was provided by JPMorgan Chase, Cinnaire, The Kresge Foundation, the City of Detroit, PNC Bank, and IFF.
“The McClellan Early Childhood Center is a prime example of what is possible when passionate partners come together to create opportunity for children, families, and their community,” says Kirby Burkholder, president of Core Business Solutions at IFF.
“When IFF first began working in Detroit 10 years ago, our intention was to support the rich landscape of nonprofits and the communities they serve, and this project exemplifies what that commitment looks like in action.”
Access to quality early childhood education continues to be a priority for the City of Detroit and Hope Starts Here, a citywide framework to develop a comprehensive early childhood system in Detroit that puts young children and families first.
“Providing financing to a CDFI that is bolstering job creation and providing quality child care to Detroit is essential for both workforce and community development,” says En Jung Kim, head of new markets tax credit at JPMorgan Chase. “IFF has a unique ability to provide a range of services, including development expertise, that fills a gap for the community and sets them apart.”
In 2015, IFF released The System We Need: A Neighborhood Snapshot of Early Education in Detroit, a data-driven research study that found that more than 20,000 Detroit children ages 0-5 did not have access to quality education; a number that has risen as a result of the pandemic.
The study helped to catalyze the formation of Hope Starts Here and the plans for new early childhood centers to meet the demand for quality child care in Detroit.
The first new center under the framework, Marygrove Early Education Center, opened in 2021, and was developed through a partnership between The Kresge Foundation, Starfish Family Services, IFF, and others.
In 2019, as the development of the Marygrove Early Education Center was underway, IFF acquired the land that would become the second center — McClellan Early Childhood Center. A third center is in the early stages of development in southwest Detroit.
Like Marygrove, McClellan Early Childhood Center emphasizes leading practices for the design, operation, and financing of early childhood facilities. Each classroom encourages play and learning while providing ample opportunity for interaction with the natural landscape surrounding the facility, which was designed by D Met Studio and built by general contractor PCI Dailey.
Based on input from more than 300 community members that was gathered through canvassing and neighborhood events by IFF partner MACC Development, a place-based community development organization, McClellan also features a community room and meeting spaces that will be used by residents and local organizations for decades to come.
IFF will act as interim owner of the facility, taking on the upfront risk and enabling Matrix to develop programming and focus on serving the children enrolled at the center.
After Matrix’s operations at McClellan are established, the organization will have the opportunity to assume ownership of the facility.
For more information, visit www.matrixhumanservices.org or https://iff.org/mcclellan.
