YMCA files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy—Hill, Homewood locations unaffected

When Kevin Bolding joined the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh in 2009, he worked under and was mentored by its then-iconic leader, the late Julius Jones. So when Bolding realized the Y’s financial situation would require some drastic action, he called Jones to alert him.
“As we started to wade through this, I called him and told him we had some difficult decisions to make, but I said we would maintain the legacy of the Y he built,” Bolding told the New Pittsburgh Courier over the phone while driving to Erie, May 15. “Julius was passionate about youth programming. He put our Y on the map, working with people and in places where nobody else would.”
Just prior to his retirement Jones completed a massive capital campaign that resulted in the building of the Thelma Lovette Y in the Hill, construction of its newest building in Bethel Park, and improvements to many of the Y’s other branches and three camps. It became focused on being a “membership Y” rather than a “program Y.”
But, as a result of the expansion, Bolding said, the organization began to accumulate debt. On May 9, that debt eventually became the impetus for the Y filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The YMCA announced it would close its Downtown location on Fifth Avenue and its Delmont location. As of now, the YMCAs in predominantly-Black neighborhoods like the Thelma Lovette Y and the Homewood YMCA are unaffected.
“As I said at the press conference (announcing the filing), we need to find the balance between a membership Y, and to always being that committed program organization that Julius helped create,” he said. “I didn’t start in this position to see how many people could get on a treadmill, I got in to provide services—and we will continue to do that.”

According to the bankruptcy filing the Y has revenues of about $40 million annually and assets valued at about $50 million, but its debt is somewhere between $10 million and $50 million. Its largest named creditor—although the debt is disputed—is Cecil-based MSP Commercial Subtenant LP, the landlord of its Downtown building on Fifth Avenue. The debt claimed is more than $264,000. The filing also lists creditors Specialty Pool Contractors of Ross Township at $112,000 and Climatech Inc. of Pittsburgh at almost $40,000.
The bulk of the debt, Bolding explained, is in the buildings.
“Remember, we’re a nonprofit, so we’re not sitting on a pile of capital,” he said. “Obviously we’d like to raise as much as we can, but our general model when building a new branch—say our newest one in Bethel Park—has been to raise at minimum half of the money and finance the rest. That’s where the debt is.”
But there are other kinds of debts, and within hours of hearing Bolding’s announcement, Fred Brown, President and CEO of the Forbes Funds, decided to repay one to his friend, by offering the services of his organization to assist in any way it could. He said he hoped he would spur other foundations to come forward.
“Being a philanthropic leader, I thought it was important for me to stand with them. They are important to the community and the region,” he said. “We want to let the community know the Y isn’t facing this alone and that there are organizations out there to lend expertise, provide resources, where applicable, and align service supports where necessary.”
Bolding is grateful for the support.
“Fred is a good friend and the role he’s in now, he is uniquely positioned to understand the troubles nonprofits have and the opportunities that foundations have to have to help.
“I don’t think our issues are unique, maybe the degree, but we all need to be aware of how tenuous our existences are,” Bolding said. “The foundation community understands we’ve been here for 164 years and are a key part of fabric of the community and they want us to remain strong. We are not leaving those who need help in the lurch, we are committed to this organization and its commitment to the community.”
 
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