Crowdfunding program helps open community centers, dog parks
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Grace Johns, a barista at The Commons. Photo: Joe Guillen/Axios
Hundreds of public spaces from Detroit to Lake Superior have benefitted from a state-sponsored crowdfunding program that recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Why it matters: The program, Public Spaces Community Places, infuses state grants up to $50,000 or $75,000 into community crowdfunding campaigns to open playgrounds, pickleball courts, dog parks and more.
Flashback: In 2018, the program helped open The Commons, a unique development on the city's east side that is part-coffee shop, part-laundromat and part-community center.
- "There isn't really a good community space around here," a general manager told Hour Detroit when it opened. "There's no libraries or public space, so that was also part of the plans."
Case in point: Grace Johns, a barista at The Commons for two years, tells Axios she feels a real sense of community there. Customers can learn about property taxes or even pick up boxes of Eastern Market produce or canned goods that are made available on occasion.
- The laundromat and coffee shop blend together surprisingly well, with a colorful mural and plants surrounding the space.
- "A lot of laundromats in the area aren't clean. I hear that a lot from customers," Johns tells Axios.
State of play: Public Spaces Community Places is a partnership of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), the Michigan Municipal League and crowdfunding platform Patronicity.
- Since it launched in 2014, the program has contributed more than $13 million in matching grants to more than 400 projects.
- More than 100 of those have been in Metro Detroit.
How it works: The program is open to municipalities, community groups and nonprofits.
- Applicants use Patronicity's website to build out their project's parameters. Approved projects get help launching their crowdfunding campaign, press release and all.
- If the crowdfunding campaign is successful, the MEDC will match.
- The program boasts a 97% success rate.
Zoom in: Curtis Jones Park, which opened in northwest Detroit in 2022, and Factory Two, a coworking space in downtown Flint, are among the program's success stories.
What they're saying: "This is a really popular way for those smaller, more achievable projects that are community-driven to get underway and over the finish line," Paula Holtz, regional development managing director for MEDC, tells Axios.