Crowdfunding campaign launched for Playspace for Bailey Park project in Detroit

$6,000 goal to win matching grant through MEDC’s Public Spaces Community Places initiative

LANSING, Mich. – The McDougall-Hunt neighborhood in Detroit will soon be home to a communally-envisioned playspace through a new crowdfunding campaign, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and local nonprofit Bailey Park Project announced today. The campaign is being offered through Michigan-based crowdfunding platform Patronicity.

If the campaign reaches its crowdfunding goal of $6,000 by October 8, the project will win a matching grant with funds made possible by MEDC’s Public Spaces Community Places program. For project details and to donate, please visit: patronicity.com/baileypark.

“The Bailey Park play space will complete the space designed by community members and give them a space to gather,” said MEDC Senior Vice President of Community Development Katharine Czarnecki. “We are pleased to provide resources for and serve as a partner in this collective effort through our Public Spaces Community Places program.”

This campaign will complete the transformation of eight parcels of vacant land into a community asset called Bailey Park. The playspace’s main feature will be an inclusive play area where children of all abilities will have the opportunity to safely play alongside one another. The park’s amenities will include a walking path, a gathering space for community meetings or events, and landscaping that includes trees and a curated garden with colorful native plants, perennial, and pollinator wildflowers.

“Children discover the world through play, so it’s sad to hear a child ask to go a park or a playground knowing that there are no accessible, ADA-compliant parks in their community. Bailey Park Project’s goal is to change that reality by working with a national nonprofit that is similarly dedicated to developing a safe place for our community’s children to develop their imaginations, exercise, make friends, and discover their world,” said Bailey Park Project Executive Director Katrina Keeby- Watkins.

“To complete the project, Bailey Park Project needs to raise these funds to help fund the installation of the playspace. Public Spaces Community Places will match all donations toward the project, helping make the playspace possible.”  

Public Spaces Community Places is a collaborative effort of the MEDC, the Michigan Municipal League, and Patronicity, in which local residents can use crowdfunding to be part of the development of strategic projects in their communities and be backed with a matching grant from MEDC. Communities, nonprofits and other business entities can apply at https://patronicity.com/puremichigan.

“Turning non-productive space into an attractive, welcoming community asset is key to placemaking,” said Dan Gilmartin, CEO and executive director of the Michigan Municipal League. “The transformation of vacant lots into an active, beautifully landscaped park will make the entire neighborhood more inviting.”  

The Public Spaces Community Places initiative started in 2014 with MEDC providing matched funding of up to $50,000 for community improvement projects throughout Michigan. As of July 31, 2018, MEDC has provided $5,203,166 in matching grants. Since the launch of the program, 173 projects have been successful in reaching their goal, with $6.2 million raised from 31,423 individual donors.

About Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is the state’s marketing arm and lead advocate for business development, job awareness and community development with the focus on growing Michigan’s economy. For more information on the MEDC and our initiatives, visit www.MichiganBusiness.org. For Pure Michigan® tourism information, your trip begins at www.michigan.org. Join the conversation on: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn, and Twitter.