Hill District Thelma Lovette YMCA celebrates turning 10 with rooftop party, open house

The Hill District’s Thelma Lovette YMCA celebrates its 10th birthday this week, capping off a decade of offering community services, including before- and after-school programming, wellness classes, youth sports programs, and more.

On Thu., April 21, the organization will host a “10 Year Rooftop Celebration,” from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at pittsburghymca.org/thelmalovette or at the door.
The party will include live music by the Bill Henry Band, voted the Best R&B Band by Pittsburgh City Paper readers in 2021. The ATU Food Truck, operated by the Athletic Trauma Unit, will be selling “food that is healthy as well as tasty.” Drinks will be provided by Hop Farm Brewing in Lawrenceville, and the Clink ‘92 Bar Truck will have wine and soft drinks.

There will also be a community open house on Sat., April 23 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free activities include a family swim, exercise classes, cycling events, youth programs, and health assessments.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Thelma Lovette YMCA has 1,200 members, down from 1,500-1,700 before COVID, but “all branches are steadily rebuilding their memberships. Thelma Lovette YMCA has had the highest rate of return members and new members, said Carolyn Grady, chief development officer of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh.”

In 2012, the Thelma Lovette YMCA was built and dedicated to the famous Pittsburgher, Thelma Lovette.

Lovette, a political and civil rights activist, was heavily involved with the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh before her passing in 2014. According to a press release, during her time with the YMCA, Lovette became the first woman to serve on both the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh and Centre Avenue YMCA boards. She also started a club for high school girls that provided service and volunteer activities and began the Healthy Living Group for stroke victims.

Outside of her work with the YMCA, the release says Lovette was an early supporter of the Freedom House Ambulance Service, which paved the way for modern EMS services, the first Black social worker at Mercy Hospital, and a 35-year Democratic committee member. She was also chosen as a Community Hero for the Western Pennsylvania leg of the 1996 Summer Olympic Torch relay, which she ran at age 80.

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