A MESSAGE FROM OUR BOARD CHAIR
A Toast to 170 Years of Community, Resilience, and Impact
In a few weeks, 2025 will be a wrap. This means It’s time to put a bow on one of the most meaningful and celebrated years in our YMCA’s 170 year history.
It’s been a year of both reflection and anticipation. However to fully appreciate where we are headed as an organization, we have to take look at where we have been.
The story of how YMCA of Memphis and the Mid South got off of the ground in 1855 is an extraordinary tale. Those first few years were challenging to say the least.
When the Civil War and Yellow Fever epidemic of the 1860s all but shuttered the Y’s presence in Memphis, that could have been the end of things.
But in 1883 a group of visionaries recognized that the Y could be a catalyst for rebuilding the city, so they resurrected the chapter in a rented, one room space above a storefront on Main Street.
And that was it. That was our first true YMCA.
After the war and epidemic, the population of the city began to increase. The needs of the community were different than they had been just a few years before. The Y was ready to take its next big step by going into local neighborhoods and schools to help provide solutions to the city’s growing pains.
It wasn’t long before the Y leadership scraped together the money to purchase a plot of land at Fourth and Madison where the Fogelman Y still stands today. In 1909, the seven story structure opened to so much fanfare that even President Taft was on hand for the ribbon-cutting. Dignitaries from around the country descended on Memphis to marvel at this grand community facility. No one had ever seen anything like it.
How’s that for being resilient?
Even though the Y’s footprint and services look different these days, the mission is still the same. Our goal has and will always be to give families and youth the resources they need to be successful and strong.
Today our Association consists of more than 80,000 members at 12 centers, and 152 program sites that span three states: Tennessee, Mississippi and most recently Arkansas.
Our Y cares for more than 7,500 students in its Before and After School programs, and another 363 infant to preschool aged kids at our Early Learning Centers. Every week, our Food and Nutrition team assembles and distributes 42,000 meals to kids who need one.
Over the next few years, our Association is preparing to open new wellness and aquatics centers in Hernando, MS, and Lakeland, TN, and a new Child Development Center at Ford’s BlueOval City facility in Stanton, TN.
So how did a small, grassroots operation grow to be one of the most monumental, life-changing organizations in the entire Mid South?
It took a lot of vision. It took a lot of hard work. It took a lot of faith. Most of all, it took a lot of people willing to lay aside differences and come together to strengthen their community.
As this year comes to a close, I’d like to propose a toast to our future. Here’s to 2026 and the start of another exciting 170 years of making a difference.
Hope Sneed
The Wagers: A Night of Impact for West Tennessee
The Wagers, presented by Capitol City Residential Health Care, brought our community together for an unforgettable evening—and raised more than $120,000 to support the Y’s mission across West Tennessee. These funds will strengthen essential programs including before- and after-school care, summer learning and feeding services, and youth development opportunities.
Guests kicked off the night at the Bootleggers Outpost—a secret entry point requiring password roulette before being transported to a private airplane hangar in Jackson. Inside, a lively circus atmosphere welcomed everyone with performers on stilts, hula hoops, and more.
Community advocates in the High Rollers Club raised over $27,000 ahead of the event, culminating in an exciting Texas Hold’em Showdown. Throughout the evening, attendees enjoyed casino games played with “funny money,” all for a great cause.
Thank you to everyone who helped make The Wagers a success. Together, we’re strengthening youth, families, and communities across West Tennessee.
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