Growing up in a rough Wilkinsburg neighborhood, in a single parent home, left Thomas Wallace with little positive influences and way too much time to get in trouble. He had multiple run-ins with law enforcement, lost two best friends to senseless violence, had one son and another on the way by the end of his senior high school year, and a vision that didn’t see him living past the age of 21. But after finding the right mentors, who bestowed upon him a new sense of self, he turned, what many would see as an excuse to fail, into reasons to succeed.
Now, Wallace, 34, of Penn Hills, has made it past the age of 21 and is using his experiences to make a positive impact on others as the executive director of the Penn Hills branch of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh where he is, to his knowledge, its youngest and first Black leader.
“I didn’t have a vision for my future. I was lost, like a lot of the kids that grow up in lower socioeconomic areas. I thought that, quite honestly, I wouldn’t survive past the age of 21,” said Wallace. “I had a rough upbringing and a couple run-ins with the law. It wasn’t a pleasurable experience, but it was definitely a learning experience and one that I wouldn’t take back; it helped shape me into the who I am now and introduced me to a lot of positive people.”
Wallace’s earlier years consisted of him, his mother, father, sister and three brothers, one of whom was his step-brother from his father who had come to live with his family; that is until his parents separated when he was 9. His mother, a newly single parent of five, worked numerous jobs to take care of their family, which left him and his brother with time to “get into things we shouldn’t have.” He was getting into trouble and barely going to school, until his tenth grade year when his high school football team received a new coach—Anthony Mitchell. Wallace said Mitchell became like a father figure to him. He coached him, told him “he could be something” and “introduced him to the idea of wanting a future and college.” Mitchell even assisted him with getting a scholarship to play football at Edinboro University, where he joined the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, met his future wife, Sandra, and graduated with a degree in Elementary Education.
It was that same commitment and self-worth he received from Mitchell that Wallace wanted to pass onto others. He then became a teacher of kindergartners, then later first graders, at Rapah Charter School in East Liberty, while coaching football at Wilkinsburg High School and conducting personal training sessions at a gym Mitchell had opened, all while being a single parent to his oldest son whom he gained full custody of after graduating from college. He was passionate about his work, but felt overwhelmed and stretched thin. Wanting to find one job that fulfilled all three of his passions, his path led him to the Homewood-Brushton YMCA where he began working as the Healthy Living director in 2005, under the leadership of former executive director, Olivia Jones.
“After the first year I knew I was in love with it. It absolutely fulfilled all of my passions, from coaching, to teaching and personal training; helping other people meet their goals,” Wallace said. “I was able to see the positive impact that I was able to have in others’ lives. I really fell in love with working for the Y and wanted to do more there.”
Throughout his years at that location, Wallace went from Healthy Living director, to supervisor of Child Care, to Branch Manager and finally, director of Operations.
In 2011, he was named the executive director of the Baierl Family YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, in the Franklin Park area of North Hills, making him the first the African American to hold a position of leadership at that Y.
Still wanting more, and having a reputation of passion for the social service side of the job and success with leadership, Wallace was informed about the opening for an executive director of the Penn Hills branch where the former director was retiring. A perfect fit because it was in his community and mix between the “social service-based” and the “country club” Ys he had worked at before, Wallace applied for the job and was given the position in 2015.
His “home” for the past six months, Wallace is working diligently on trying to change the community’s view of the Penn Hills’ location being just a “gym and swim” to being so much more—a place that meets the whole needs of the entire family.
“My vision and the vision I’m helping my staff develop is that we want to be seen and known as the resource center of the community; whether you’re trying to meet physical fitness goals, or you need other resources. We may not be the direct provider of that service, but we can connect you to that resource” said Wallace. “You should know that if you need anything, one of the first numbers, outside of emergency, you can dial the YMCA.”
The Y currently offers subsidized family memberships, traditional gym programs, afterschool and before school childcare, free childcare while working out, youth sports for ages 3 and up, community nights, volunteer and community service opportunities, and offsite programs such as providing staff and curriculum for physical activity classes in Propel and private schools. Wallace said they have partnered with the Penn Hills School District to facilitate a “Manhood 2.0” mentoring program for young men that focuses on violence prevention and healthy relationships.
Along with changing the Y’s reputation, Wallace said he is also currently working to gain volunteers, “new blood” on their advisory board and develop partnerships.
Joyce Davis, president of the Penn Hills Unit of the NAACP, said she’s impressed with Wallace’s “ideas and how he wants to expand the Y and it’s reach within the community. It’s a beautiful facility and there’s a lot of untapped potential that he sees. He’s doing a lot for Penn Hills and the community.”
When it comes to what drives him, Wallace said it’s the fact that he and his wife came from rough backgrounds and know the impact the YMCA can have on the community and youth; his desire to have a positive example for his three sons that live with him, ages 17, 16 and 6; and his first-hand knowledge of the senseless violence.
“My door is always open. I’m committed because I have a social service heart, but I’m also committed because this is my community, this is where I live.”
(For more information on the Penn Hills branch of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, call 412-795-2600.)
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