This series, Block by Block, is supported by FHLBank Indianapolis, IFF, and CEDAM, and follows emerging and diverse developers building affordable housing in Michigan.
Folks all across the nation are rooting for Detroit again, and it’s an energy and pride that residents, visitors, sports fans, developers, and investors feel. For
IFF, a community development financial institution (CDFI) based in Illinois, Detroit serves as a model of what community investment can look like, and how it can positively shape the neighborhoods it plants roots in.
Although based out-of-state, the organization knows that many of the needs of Midwest nonprofits are common. IFF works to provide valuable capital for places that otherwise don’t have those resources. For the past 10 years, IFF has been investing and committed to providing community financial support
across Michigan, including
Detroit neighborhoods.
Kirby Burkholder is the president of core business solutions at IFF, and works on providing solutions for capital, real estate, and community development. As part of his role, Burkholder moved to Detroit in 2013, and has seen a lot of growth and change in the area over the past decade.
“We came into Detroit, which was a crowded CDFI ecosystem, but we had a real strong belief in both the way we work, and the kinds of products and services we knew we could bring to Detroit,” he says. “We thought there was a place for us there as a complement to a lot of the existing resources. We also came to Detroit right around the plan of adjustment, and the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the United States. There was a moment in time for folks to think about the possibility of the role of the catalytic capital and transformational community development of a CDFI, within the context of a city that was wrestling with its future.”
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Photo by Cydni Elledge. Photo courtesy of Laura Silverman. IFF President of Core Business Solutions, Kirby Burkholder, speaks about the CDFI's commitment to neighborhoods in the Eastside of Detroit, at the McClellan Early Childhood Center's ribbon-cutting ceremony. Burkholder says IFF’s decision to bring capital to Detroit was a perfect fit. The funding can help spur developments, which can elevate the pride that the ‘born and raised’ residents and those who are transplants, feel about their hometown.
“Detroit has its own energy and the people are incredible.There’s a real deep dedication to and celebration of place, regardless of what anyone else thinks,” he says. “There’s a ‘never say never’ and ‘don’t take no for an answer’ mentality. There’s a will to make it happen, and sometimes it’s a will to make it happen against all odds. It’s very much aligned with our philosophy and approach, which is a deep commitment to align with change agents, and to support community champions in any way we can to shape more equitable and vibrant communities.”
One of the communities that's actively being invested in through IFF is the Gratiot Woods neighborhood, a strategic priority neighborhood for investment, as noted in
The Detroit Future City Report.
Gratiot Woods’ location on the Eastside of Detroit makes it about halfway between Downtown Detroit and Grosse Pointe. It’s adjacent to a manufacturing area, and the Western side of the neighborhood remains stable and developed, with many single-family homes in Indian Village. IFF is working towards investing more on the east within the Islandview and the Villages neighborhoods, but the investment and commitment is not limited solely to a hyper-local boundary, Burkholder says.
“It’s not just picking a neighborhood or a neighborhood picking us,” he says. “It’s really IFF leaning in and listening to the voices of community and community leaders, and then us bringing our expertise and resources in their direction. It’s just one example of the broader approach.”
The recent Detroit energy, enthusiasm and pride around the city, even further propelled by sports teams’ recent success, is exciting for Burkholder to witness over the past 10 years. Being a part of the ‘renewed Detroit’ era, championing for the city’s vitality, alongside its longtime residents and hearty anchor neighborhoods is a proud feeling, he says.
Kyle Smitley is an Ohio native, but has a deep love and appreciation for all that Detroit has provided for her family. She moved here in 2012, founded Detroit Achievement Academy and later,
Detroit Prep. IFF’s first-ever Michigan loan was provided to Smitley at Detroit Achievement Academy. The school received $17,250 for equipment, and was instrumental in taking Smitley’s dream of a non-conventional school, and making it a reality.
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Photo courtesy of Kyle Smitley.Detroit Prep is a Pingree Neighborhood school, just outside of the Gratiot Woods neighborhood, made possible by IFF funding.
“Both schools are super special and unique,” she says. “We’re just a pair of schools, not part of a network or chain—just small non-profit elementary schools. We believe that soft skills and the whole child is as important as academic content. Our kids use project-based learning and projects they’re interested in, and we sneak in the mastery of grade-level standards. They don’t even realize it, they’re just authentically excited to learn.”
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Photo courtesy of Kyle Smitley. IFF provided funding for Detroit Prep, and it has grown and flourished over the years.
In fall of 2023, U.S. News & World Report ranked Detroit Prep as the number one school in Detroit, across all public and private schools.
Smitley says while it’s sometimes hard to put into numbers or dollars the value a good school has in its surrounding community, it’s absolutely evident within the neighborhood. As renovations of the school were underway, many residents stopped by to share stories of their time at the bygone school, their excitement to see something take over the
once-blighted space, and talk about how their home values increased due to the revitalization.
“It’s hard to quantify it, but when you see it in action, you’re like ‘holy moly,’” Smitley says. ”Even the tax revenue is impacted, because families are filling the neighborhood now because they want to be close to this school. We have skilled workers for the city, you have these amazing families who don’t want to move to Birmingham, they want to stay in this cute little neighborhood and go to the top school in the city. Good schools create talent. There is such an impact.”
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Photo courtesy of Kyle Smitley.Detroit Prep was transformed to a vibrant school, after sitting for years as a blighted building.Smitley says neither of the schools would exist or could have grown the way they have without the support of IFF and the thoughtfulness on where they deploy resources.
“I’m at an elementary school a block away from where they chose to put an early childhood center, years after they invested in our building,” she says. “They’re strategic.”
The early childhood center she’s referring to is one of the latest Detroit endeavors of IFF.
McClellan Early Childhood Center is a brand-new facility built upon the area where the long-abandoned Pingree Elementary school sat.
Burkholder says there’s an ancillary economic benefit in the neighborhood, giving families access to high quality education, and the refurbished building also has a positive on its immediate geography.
IFF has also invested in other folks in the neighborhood, including
Downtown Boxing Gym’s permanent expanded home in the Gratiot Corridor. Not only do they help with real estate counseling, deploying New Market Tax Credits, and carefully curating lending and building relationships with community partners, but for this McClellan project, IFF also stepped into a leadership role.
McClellan Early Childhood Center is the first building in the state that IFF owns. The $8.7 million
state-of-the-art early childhood facility is a response to one of the community’s needs for access to affordable, accessible high-quality childcare. The center is in partnership with Mary Grove, The University of Michigan, Detroit Public Schools, and the Detroit Kresge Foundation.
The facility had a
ribbon-cutting ceremony on August 20, is in the process of getting licensed, and is set to open later this month. IFF is the interim owner of the building, until the tenant, Matrix Human Services, can take over ownership.
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Courtesy photo. The brand-new, state-of-the-art McClellan Early Childhood Center is located in the Gratiot Woods neighborhood of Eastside Detroit.
Matrix Human Services is a century-old organization founded in 1906, committed to providing hope for the citizens of Detroit. Brad Coulter, president and CEO of Matrix Human Services, says "without hope, there is no future."
“Until you spark hope, it’s really difficult to work with people to improve their lives,” he says. “Our goal is to give them hope, and work a path towards self-sufficiency. It’s all about a hand-up not a handout.”
The primary program within the organization is
Matrix Head Start, with over 1,200 children enrolled in direct programming, including some students at McClellan. They also have community centers, provide workforce development and housing counseling, using wraparound services with partnering organizations as well.
McClellan has eight classrooms, with four early start classrooms for 0-3 years old, and four Head Start classrooms from 3-5 years old.
“We serve about 96 children in total at McClellan,” Coulter says. “The main thing is that it’s really been designed to stimulate a child’s brain development by giving them the opportunity to explore and play,” Coulter says. “Head Start is unique because of the wraparound services provided to families. Not only do we focus on the children’s education, but we also focus on helping that family construct a nurturing environment for the child to go home to.”
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Photo courtesy of Monique Riley at IFF.The McClellan Early Childhood Center features eight classrooms, and will serve 96 students. Coulter hopes this project offers families a beacon of hope.
“When you’re coming to a state-of-the-art building, it shows you really care about the children and their parents,” he says. “It helps give people an inspiration that they can make a better life for themselves, and that Matrix is an organization that can help them do that.”
Smitley is also excited that the early childhood center came to fruition, and is proud to welcome as close neighbors.
“Detroiters are promised that we’re going to have our huge opportunity gap met all the time,” she says. “But it feels really cool for IFF to run into roadblock after roadblock, and stay after it to keep their promise. At the ribbon cutting, it felt like a really joyful cool moment that the neighborhood deserved.”