Rooted in Connection at the Kelly Hall YMCA Community Conversation Breakfast

Earlier this month, the Kelly Hall YMCA hosted Breakfast and Belonging: Community Conversation with Y CEO, a moment of reflection on our shared legacy and our future. 

This conversation brought together YMCA members and staff, community partners, and 27th Ward Alderman Walter “Red” Burnett. Together, we covered our investment in West Humboldt Park and the surrounding West Side communities and our ongoing commitment to reducing health disparities and improving health outcomes across Chicago’s West Side.  

Andre Goode, Executive Director, Kelly Hall YMCA and West Garfield Park YMCA, was honored to speak about the YMCA’s legacy, serving children, teens, young adults, families, and seniors at the Kelly Hall Y, Dr. Effie O. Ellis Y, Garfield Y, and Marshall Y over the past 20 years. He also shared updates on the next chapter in our neighborhood journey: the coming West Garfield Park Y. 

Thank you to everyone who joined us at this event. It was a powerful gathering rooted in collaboration and collective action, and we’re deeply grateful for your presence. Real change is local. And mobilizing neighborhood power means it will take everyone who was in the room, every organization in the community, and every neighbor we meet along the way to reach our goals. In West Humboldt Park and other West Side Communities, where health disparities are among the highest in the city, our work isn’t just meaningful: It’s essential. 

Thank you for being part of this movement. Let’s keep building together.