$8.75 million, state-of-the-art facility will provide education to over 90 children

Yesterday, a celebration took place to mark the opening of the new McClellan Early Childhood Center (McClellan) in the Gratiot Woods neighborhood on the East Side of Detroit. The state-of-the-art facility, spanning an impressive 15,000 square feet, is situated on the former site of the Detroit Public Schools’ Pingree Elementary School. With eight well-equipped classrooms, McClellan is poised to accommodate 96 early learners from the community, effectively bridging a significant gap of 521 seats in the surrounding neighborhoods. The center will offer comprehensive Head Start and Early Head Start programs, and preparations are underway to welcome its inaugural cohort of students by October 2024.

Funding and financing for the $8.75 million project is provided by Cinnaire, JPMorgan Chase, The Kresge Foundation, the City of Detroit, PNC Bank and IFF.

“Community means placing ‘we’, ‘us’, and ‘our’, over ‘I’, ‘me’, and ‘my,’”, said Lucius Vassar, Cinnaire Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary. “It’s about fostering strong partnerships rooted in collaboration and mutual respect. The McClellan Center exemplifies what can be achieved when we come together to increase access to top-notch early childhood education for all of Detroit’s youth. By focusing on the well-being of children and creating opportunities for families and the community, we’re positioning Detroit as a city that prioritizes the needs of young people. We’re proud to stand alongside the visionary partners who brought this project to life.”

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. In 2015, IFF released The System We Need: A Neighborhood Snapshot of Early Education in Detroit, a rigorous, 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, Cinnaire, 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. A third center is in the early stages of development in Southwest Detroit.

“Investing in early childhood education lays the foundation for children’s future success in school and beyond,” said Peter Giles, SVP Public Funding at Cinnaire. “Cinnaire’s New Markets Tax Credit investment in McClellan reflects our strong support for IFF’s pursuit of making early childhood learning available with a standard of excellence for all Detroit children. McClellan and Marygrove Early Childhood Center are examples of IFF’s commitment to expanding opportunities for early learning across the city and Cinnaire is proud to have partnered in bringing the vision of both projects to reality.”

Like Marygrove, McClellan 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.

“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,” said 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. We believe that every child has the right to quality early learning, and through our services and our partnerships, we are committed to meaningfully increasing access. We are thrilled that this state-of-the-art facility now exists to support Matrix’s work to help Detroit’s families thrive.”