DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Twenty-five years ago, HYPE began with a simple idea: Use sports to bring children and young people from different racial and religious backgrounds together in a safe, healthy environment away from drugs, violence and risky behavior.

Today, that ambitious idea has evolved into a comprehensive sports and social-services organization with facilities in Dearborn, Wayne, Detroit, Melvindale and Dearborn Heights, where HYPE’s headquarters recently underwent an extensive renovation reflecting the nonprofit organization’s determination to continue serving the local community according to the highest standards.

Although the size of HYPE’s facilities and the nature of its services have changed significantly over the past quarter-century, organization founder Ali Sayed said its central purpose remains the same: Providing a safe environment where young people can meet and work together without discrimination.

A major investment

Several weeks ago, HYPE completed a comprehensive expansion of its headquarters on West Warren Avenue in Dearborn Heights. The project included adding three basketball and volleyball courts, bringing the total number of courts to eight, as well as constructing a large indoor soccer field alongside the outdoor field.

Approximately two weeks ago, HYPE also completed renovations to its coed and women-only fitness centers, equipping them with new exercise machines, flooring, lighting, paint and other improvements.

Sayed did not disclose the project’s total cost to The Arab American News, describing the investment only as “significant.” He said the project was financed through the organization’s own fund, which is supported by membership fees, facility rentals, events and other activities.

The expansion and renovations reflect the gradual growth of the sports and community center, which opened in 2012 and continued expanding its facilities and services over the following years.

A comprehensive facility

According to Sayed, HYPE’s main center, located at 23302 W. Warren Ave. in Dearborn Heights, encompasses approximately 153,000 square feet.

In addition to basketball, volleyball and soccer facilities, the center has an indoor walking and running track and two fitness centers—one coed and one reserved exclusively for women.

The women’s fitness area includes a sauna, steam room and health club, while similar, separate amenities are available for men.

The facility also contains classrooms, boxing and taekwondo facilities, a restaurant and a protein bar.

As part of the continuing expansion, Sayed said the organization plans to open a café inside the facility before the beginning of the new year. It also plans to open a small store offering HYPE-branded merchandise, snacks, food and products for athletes.

These facilities illustrate how HYPE’s headquarters has evolved since it opened. The building is no longer simply a venue for games and practices, but a multipurpose center combining sports, fitness, education and social activities.

A similar model in Wayne

In the city of Wayne, HYPE operates a similar sports and community center at 4635 Howe Road, with some differences in its programs and services.

The Wayne facility includes an indoor track, basketball courts, fitness centers, a health club and locker rooms. Its activities include gymnastics, taekwondo, volleyball and pickleball, along with a range of indoor and outdoor sports programs.

According to Sayed, the center also provides applied behavior analysis, or ABA, therapy — one of the methods used to support children with autism spectrum disorder and certain developmental conditions.

The Wayne center also has an event hall with a capacity of up to 500 people, adding a social and community function to the building’s athletic purpose.

Outdoor athletics

On Belle Isle in Detroit, HYPE operates a model different from its indoor centers in Dearborn Heights and Wayne: An outdoor sports complex spanning more than 38 acres.

According to Sayed, the site includes five full-size soccer fields, four smaller fields for eight-on-eight matches, two cricket fields, four baseball fields and nine tennis courts, in addition to basketball and handball courts and sand volleyball facilities.

The baseball fields recently underwent a comprehensive redevelopment sponsored by Ford Motor Company and Carhartt.

Sayed said the project resulted in the fields being completely renovated and extensively improved, creating an outdoor venue for tournaments, games and athletic training.

Beyond sports

HYPE’s expansion has not been limited to opening new locations and extending its geographic reach. It has also broadened the nature of the services it provides.

At its east Dearborn and Melvindale locations, the priority shifts from sports courts and fitness centers to mental and physical health and wellness.

According to Sayed, the services include licensed therapists, psychologists, counselors and social workers, as well as primary healthcare services.

This work represents an extension of a path HYPE began in 2006, when it expanded its activities to include educational support, mentoring, substance-abuse prevention, health education, life-skills development and behavioral health.

Sayed said the organization’s approach is based on not separating mental and physical health. Instead, it treats wellness as the product of the relationship among the mind, body and social environment surrounding an individual.

HYPE has therefore gradually progressed from using sports as a tool to bring young people together to adopting a broader model that seeks to address other aspects of their lives, from school and family to mental and physical health.

HYPE Athletics grows from youth initiative into regional community institution.

Membership and facility funding

Membership fees are among the primary sources of revenue HYPE relies upon to operate its facilities, along with rentals, charitable events and other activities.

At the Dearborn Heights center, for example, an individual membership costs $40 a month, while a family membership costs $109.

Other membership categories include $69 for couples, $29 for individuals age 59 and older and $46 for senior couples.

Sayed told The Arab American News that membership at the Dearborn Heights center includes access to the facilities covered by the plan, group fitness classes and childcare services.

Monthly membership fees do not include every HYPE activity. Certain specialized sports programs, camps, courses and personal training require separate registration and fees.

Prices differ slightly at the Wayne center, where individual memberships begin at $25 per month.

Although membership fees provide an essential part of HYPE’s funding, the nonprofit also depends on government and foundation grants, donations and facility-rental revenue.

Roots in East Dearborn

Behind HYPE’s success and expansion is a story that began in east Dearborn, where Ali Sayed grew up in a large family and where his father worked for General Motors.

Sayed recalled that the children around him were Arab, Black and White and came from families with different social and economic circumstances. Those differences, however, faded once they stepped onto the playing field.

“The thing that brought us together and closer to one another was our shared love of sports,” Sayed told The Arab American News.

During middle school and high school, the young Lebanese American participated in five sports. His teammates became close friends despite their varied backgrounds.

From that experience, Sayed said, he developed a firm belief that belonging to a team and pursuing a common goal could transcend differences in skin color, religion or ethnicity.

After graduating from high school, Sayed organized a basketball tournament to reunite his friends. What began as a youth gathering evolved into an organization in 2001, when Sayed was only 19 years old.

No religious or ethnic identity

Although HYPE began in the heart of a community with a significant Arab American population and received broad support from community members, Sayed emphasized that the organization was not created to serve one particular ethnic or religious group.

Its vision was instead based on providing “a diverse, safe athletic environment free of drugs and violence” that could bring children and young people from different backgrounds together.

“We want our children to grow up together, love one another, support one another and learn to work together toward a common goal,” he said.

At the same time, Sayed does not minimize the role the Arab American community played in the organization’s growth.

“Our community has the right to celebrate HYPE’s success because this community helped create that success,” he said.

The playing field as a tool, not an end

For Sayed, sports were never the ultimate objective of the project.

He believes sports give children an opportunity to learn discipline, commitment, hard work, self-confidence and teamwork — skills he considers far more important over the long term than the result of a game or the creation of a professional athlete.

For that reason, Sayed said, the organization expanded into substance-abuse prevention and behavioral-health programs while maintaining a policy prohibiting drugs inside its facilities, including marijuana despite its legality in Michigan.

HYPE’s efforts in this area include education, prevention, early intervention and cooperation with local school districts, along with therapeutic, psychological and social services.

In Sayed’s view, no sports organization, school or family can confront the challenges facing young people alone.

“We either fail separately, or we all succeed together,” Sayed said, emphasizing the need for cooperation among families, schools, religious and medical institutions and community organizations.

For more information about HYPE’s locations, programs, services and membership rates, visit hypeathletics.org.