We’re Expanding!
Join Matthew and Kelly Stafford in building more opportunity for Detroit youth
As part of their ongoing commitment to the SAY Detroit Play Center, the Staffords have pledged $1 million to launch efforts to build a new annex on the grounds of Lipke Park. They were later joined by a matching gift from the A.A. Van Elslander Foundation and most recently, the Clarence & Jack Himmel Foundation has pledged an additional $1 million.
Construction has started on the 15,000-square-foot facility. The Kelly and Matthew Stafford & Friends Education Center will include classrooms, learning labs and a theater. It will allow SAY Detroit to expand its services and house a growing and diverse range of programming, including vocational and technical training for adults.
We’re thrilled to share that the construction project has made exciting progress this spring:
Interest in major gifts should be directed to Richard Kelley, Executive Director, here.
A rendering of the future building
SAY Play exists to assist students from low-income families overcome literacy inequities while improving themselves and their communities.
Created in 2015 in a formerly closed city of Detroit recreation center, the SAY Detroit Play Center at Lipke Park is an academic enrichment center serving hundreds of Detroit youth (ages 8-18) and their families by providing after-school educational programming and mentoring; financial literacy; recreational and enrichment activities; evening meals and snacks; transportation (daily pick up from schools and returning each member to their homes at night), and other services.
The Staffords began their relationship with SAY Detroit in 2015 with the announcement of a seven-figure commitment by their Score7 Charitable Fund to support academic programming and the building of a professional-grade football field, home to the SAY Play Warriors.