28-04-2025
Crowdfunding program helps open community centers, dog parks
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.
