The city of Detroit is rapidly changing with business development notably taking place in the downtown and midtown areas. But what about the inner city? Detroit native Chanel Hampton noticed the lack of growth in areas as such and wanted to do something about it. Specifically, she envisioned a co-working space such as WeWork or Bamboo Detroit in the inner city.
Hampton and her company, Strategic Community Partners (SCP), held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday morning, as they opened their doors as the first co-working hub catered to local nonprofits and community-based organizations for the Fitzgerald neighborhood. The new 2,000 sq ft. located on 10240 W. McNichols will also serve as an office for the SCP team, which also has offices in New York, St. Louis, and Washington D.C. SCP’s focus has been to serve mission-driven organizations rooted in education, equity, and justice. Hampton, who is the Founder & CEO of SCP, noted that for this reason, it was extremely important to have a working space as such in the inner city of Detroit.
“What’s really going to be happening out of this space is going to be a hub for our community”, said Hampton. “[It’s] going to be a center and source for community members, youth, and elders to all use our space.”
According to Hampton, the usage of the facility is already underway. Local groups & organizations such as JOURNi will host coding programs out of the facility, which will be geared towards the youth. The Happy Confident Future Foundation has also begun utilizing the new space for etiquette classes geared towards young women. 
Hampton and SCP could have opened up this space anywhere in Detroit. However, it was “critical” in her opinion for their new location to have inner-city roots.
“We’re seeing so many developments happening downtown and in midtown, but as a native Detroiter and someone that’s not from those areas, but from an actual neighborhood, it’s really important to me that we continue to uplift a community that has a really rich legacy”, said Hampton.
“This building is not SCP’s building, it’s a community center.”
About Post Author
