And now the 490 with Gretchen de Becker, Matt Killam, and Kevin Mullane.

All.

Welcome back to another exciting edition of the 419.

My name is Matt Killam, and I'm your guest host.

Rhonda Sewell.

That's right.

Gretchen, you've never looked better.

Thank you so much.

Don't adjust your sets or change the dial in.

I guess if you have a dial or probably in a model T, we've got a celebrity guest in an actual journalist in studio today.

Kevin is out on assignment, getting hopefully whatever fixed on his face he can be.

We're not supposed to talk about it based on Hippo laws, but he's got he needs some help.

That guy and Gretchen is also an outside the studio as well.

So I have an actual journalist in studio.

Thank goodness.

Rhonda stools here wearing many hats.

Rhonda, there's few people in the area that do not know who you are, but at the risk of blowing through those who don't.

May I introduce you?

And what?

I think you probably describe yourself in this way.

You are a friend of Matt Killam.

Definitely.

First and foremost.

Was hoping you would say that.

Right.

But you have a journalist background, and I can tell that even when we first met, we met on a professional le And there is a certain polished how you walk through life.

And right now you are exemplifying that polish at the Museum of Art.

At what capacity?

Well, first I'll cash app you later for saying all those nice things.

Thank you so much.

Done and done.

But yes, I do wear many hats in the community, and we did meet a long time ago, maybe two decades ago, just in our professional careers.

But you talk about journalism.

I was a reporter for the blade newspaper for 18 years.

Yes.

And now I'm director of advocacy and external affairs for the Toledo Museum of Art.

So I asked for library funding.

I'm involved in public policy.

And even before that career, I spent 15 years at the Toledo Lucas County Public Library.

So I've worked for some really great anchor institutions in this community.

The show is about telling Toledo stories today.

There's a million things going on that we're extremely proud of.

You mentioned the word advocate, an advocacy which you embody.

So you are perfect plug in for this morning, but it is relatively early.

So I want to thank you for that.

You look magnificent.

Only furthering the fact that my physical form is in just in decline in a way that's in calculable.

But you are a perfect plug in here.

We've got a great show.

We've got the president and CEO of the Y cross area, a friend of mine and a friend, dual Brad Toff.

We also have a friend of mine from the and Grady.

That agency does a lot of work.

Gentleman is also a counselor.

He's going to kick us off.

All of this is brought to us, of course, by wealth management as well as the Greater Toledo Community Foundation.

And they've charged us to make sure we're telling appropriate stories.

Whenever you get even three people leading a show, you see the community through certain wins.

So having you on this morning, you can walk me through the lens here together.

Anything going on at the museum that you want to talk about today?

You've got a busy summer.

I know so much going on.

So we are involved in what's called transformation 2027, and that's a complete reinstallation project with the main building, which we call the Green building.

It's named after the architect okay.

And so as of June 8th, which is a few days ago, we completely closed down our art galleries.

So the museum will not be closed.

So we have the peristyle that's still in the glass pavilion.

We have the family center, which is so active in the summer every Saturday.

And the other.

Yeah, yeah.

And I grew up in the family center.

At one time, my family, we lived across the street from the museum, so it's near and dear to my heart.

So that will be a wonderful thing for 2027.

In the fall winter we will reopen.

Rhonda.

Exciting place.

You're doing exciting work.

We're going to transition to our next segment where our guests come on and we fumble through episode of the 419 without Kevin and Gretchen.

But I think we're doing okay.

Thanks for tuning in and thanks for watching.

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Thank you.

Welcome back.

We are live here to some degree.

And by live, I mean excited to have our first guest.

That is a countdown from a higher being.

It's a it's a spirit based show.

And 19 Rhonda is in studio filling in for both Kevin and Gretchen.

It just goes to show.

It only takes one person to do those two bozos jobs.

So again, Rhonda, thank you.

We are excited to have a friend on the show to talk about two things.

You're with the Ann Grady Services Group.

Certainly you are a counselor and you have a name that is not met, which is very easy for anyone to say, but Shaham Suk Sean, that I knew it.

No, it is one of those tongue twisters.

And yeah.

So it's kind of like Sean with an M and then Sue and Chuck.

It is.

It represents elegance, which of course is totally foreign to the American dialect.

So it's great to have you here.

You and I have met in passing on a multitude of occasions, but we run risk whenever we have friends on the show to blow past the important work that our friends do in the community.

And to this morning is going to highlight that you've been stuck with Rhonda far longer than you've been stuck with me.

I do want to talk a little bit about angry services.

Sure.

Most people are aware of it.

We've had guests on the show that have made mention not only of being employed there, but how important the services are.

Can you give us a little bit of history?

The portfolio?

Absolutely.

So I have the pleasure of serving as the chief operating officer at an Grady Services.

We were founded in the 70s by parents.

So was I. Hey.

Me too.

They were all.

Yes.

No comment.

We can cut that out on.

Exactly.

So in the 70s, we had a few parents with individuals that had disabilities trying to find a place for their loved ones to be cared for in a way that had dignity and quality.

And so with that challenge, the parents came together and founded in Grady Services.

At that time, it was called center.

Okay.

With the idea that they were going to serve ten counties.

Okay.

But then in 1982 is when we opened our doors in.

Grady and Walter Grady were one of the founding members, and their son, Tom Grady, lived with us at the and Grady Center.

So that was the main facility that started in 1982.

We moved about 96 individuals in at first.

At this point, we serve over 250 individuals in various capacities.

So we provide services that are residential, both in facilities, in supported living sites where we have staff go out there and serve these individuals.

We have day programs.

In fact, one of our day program is celebrating a ten year anniversary today.

Congratulations.

Yes.

Yes.

It's very exciting.

That doesn't happen by accident.

Yes.

Yes.

It's the commitment to the dedication of the staff there.

Absolutely.

I wonder if you.

Just a second.

And this is actually for both of you.

The word dignity really struck me.

And that is something that I think we say with some regularity or run through.

But it seems a particularly appropriate after last week to talk a little bit about dignity.

Rhonda, that is how you walk through life, not just from your mother, but certainly a whole family of people who lead in, look at things through a dignified lens.

But if I may ask you, that has to be one of the driving principles of how you get out of bed every day.

Right.

You have 250 people that are under your charge, and they all deserve, as we all do, dignity.

But at the risk of putting you on the spot.

Do you mind talking a little bit about what that means to you personally?

Absolutely.

I think being dignified is how you show up in places.

And have you receive people in your spaces?

Right.

I think a lot of people have the lens of judgment, certainly, and sometimes we just judge the book by its cover.

That's why we eliminated Gretchen from the show.

She left a makeup.

Nothing dignified about that.

Please keep going.

But.

And so I think it's important to be more intentional.

And how we are not only showing up, but receiving people in our lives.

Rhonda, again, you are standing on the shoulders of some real lineage here.

But dignity is certainly something or principle that you live by.

I have a slightly different question, but similar theme.

We all live our lives through our phones now, right?

Social media is how we present ourselves on how we unfortunately, in my opinion, present how we feel about things that either occurred or nationally.

You are not a foreign person to social media.

Can you talk to me a little bit about maybe even as a journalist, but carrying a lineage that is a very proud family lineage, dignity, dignity to you means what, in sort of a modern era?

Well, I love my friend's answer here.

It was this friend.

Okay.

It was so on point.

I mean, I can't go, you know, any higher than what you said.

It is so true.

But at the, you know, the thought of standing on shoulders.

So great.

Yes.

And thinking of my my parents and the matriarchal family that I have.

My mother, her mother.

My my paternal grandmother told her.

I know your mother is Billie Johnson.

And she retired after 49 years as the CEO of the Area Office on Aging of Northwest Ohio and in the hands of Justin Moore, our friend who's doing great work.

But there's a quote that can sum it up.

What what I think of dignity is that each of our individuals that we think of, we are it's a privilege to live a dignified life.

I think it is.

But Gloria Naylor, who was the author of The Women of Brewster Place, once said we should all individually be militant about the validity of our story or the validity of our truth, our true North, who we are.

And I think, wow, if you can achieve that, that is dignity.

That is living a dignified life.

So that's what I think of.

And we're all, you know, we're all human beings, right?

We're bipedal, carbon based, although we're similar molecularly.

No doubt about it.

Every day is not it is progress, not perfection.

Right.

So walking through and Grady for those again people who may not know, what would people see and what are some of the services that people can do.

So residential services.

We have the main base facility of of Airport Highway on eBay road.

We serve about 53 individuals in that site.

And then we have about seven group homes where we have additional 56 individuals that we serve there, about 50 individuals in supported living sites.

We have over 175 individuals served in the different day programs.

You will see our transportation department, the busses, CTS.

You probably have seen those around.

So providing transportation, that's not medical getting people around activities.

We have an on site therapy team physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy.

We have a nursing team on site as well.

And then we also have respite services that we have just relaunched, which is very exciting.

It's kind of a way to get families that are caring for their loved ones in their homes, a little bit of a respite to just take some time because caregiving is a the burnout is real.

Yes it is.

That is something I mean to say.

I learned a piece of that through this show.

Having people come in and talk about, don't forget about the caregivers, which I think we all often do.

We admire their courage, but we forget that they're also human beings to and to serve time.

May I ask you, sir?

Yes.

There is a wide range of things that you oversee.

What in God's name makes you qualified to do this?

Give us a little bit of your background.

You know, Jack of all trades?

Sure.

Yeah.

So in terms of my educational ground, I have a bachelor's in communication.

I have a master's in organizational leadership and then just recently acquired a masters of in counseling.

So and then I just acquired my license in counseling.

I have an HR background.

Operations background I've been in the field of developmental disability services since 2002.

You know, there are easy jobs out there, sir.

Why have you done this to yourself?

You know, you get Dave and Busters this evening as a general manager, right?

Well, you know, I think it was one of those things where I did not even realize I was going to be in this field when I started.

Yeah, I thought I was going to be working with children and, you know, and then it ended up being in this field.

It is such a interesting thing to kind of recognize that you have a certain calling and the calling to serve.

Yeah.

Which is one of the things that motivates me to do the work I do.

I ask a question that was mostly about me I know I did, but that that touches on something about community because you are a community centric person.

I see you out with your dance group as well as the museum, and so you do so many things.

But what like let's say we're sitting here ten years from now on the 20th anniversary of an Grady.

What are some things that you hope to, as co hope to have accomplished in ten additional years of anger questions.

So so just to kind of correct the ingredient services has been in operations since the 82.

So like over 40 years.

And then one of our day programs celebrating their tenure this.

Yeah I think one of the things that we want to be able to do is have a community based system that is going to be welcoming of the people we serve, and not only in a very superficial manner of like, yes, they can attend events and they go places, but actually being inclusive of opportunities that they do deserve, which I'm excited about, one of our individuals is going to be able to display their artwork at the museum the June 20th through July, which is highlighting some of the artists with disability and very excited about that.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Yes, that great question, Rhonda, and thanks to your work.

You had an even better answer.

You did mention that you have now gotten your counselor.

It seems to be, regrettably, a growth industry.

Can you talk to me a little bit about the services you provide, and you have the risk of leaning it too much?

Why?

They've never been more important in our walking history.

I think mental health has always been in existence.

Right.

I think it has just been suppressed and not been recognized and identified.

One of the reasons I went back to school to get my counseling degree was in my day to day interactions with employees.

I partly oversee HR.

And so when you're talking about performances, when you're talking about people's, you know, the way they show up, there were so many components of mental health, personal issues that were coming on that were significantly impacting their lives.

And so I think more and more we have people that are stressed, that are burnt out, that are bearing the weight of responsibilities that they probably are not able to or not equipped to handle.

And we are living in a society that says, keep going.

That's right.

Stay strong and keep going.

Keep fighting, which is great.

We have to.

However, we need to have the right tools and the resources to do that.

The two of you, we represent different races and ethnicities.

At the risk of putting you both on the spot.

Why are we not able to use these uniformed experiences in terms of anxiety, stress, drive?

We all look different, right?

We are why?

Chromosomes?

You're an extra chromosome.

We all are sharing this space.

Why isn't this been something we're able to share together to bring us more as a community?

I if I may, I don't have the counseling degree here, but you you mentioned our our differences and similarities as well.

But I can speak especially from the African-American perspective.

There has been such a stigma in a culturally speaking, viewing mental health as something weak.

Luckily, there have been a lot of really big name celebrities.

Taraji B Henson, you know, people of that elk who have brought it to the forefront.

And now it is something that is people want proudly and say, yes, my therapist said, and I think that is just wonderful, especially young people.

You know, we still have a lot of challenges, but that is something that I'm seeing a difference in.

May ask you the same?

Yes, yes.

I think one of the things is, like you mentioned, Rhonda, you know, the limitations that we've been forced to accept almost through our upbringing, through the cultural exposure, societal norms.

Yes.

We see a lot of men, men of color, women of color that are struggling to get the services because of growing up in my culture, as I was talking about going into depression of sorts and the responses on the radio, if you don't mind, mention that your culture is what?

Yeah, I'm Indian by origin.

And so going into depression and the response would be there's no need to go anywhere.

Just get get some, you know, get some books, get education.

Smile.

It's it's that must have been so really emotional.

Right.

It was like, oh that's all I have to do.

Just smile and be happy.

And so.

Right.

Exactly.

It was simplified and just almost negated and invalidated.

And so I think that being able to offer that space to the community to say, know your feelings matter, your thoughts matter, let's talk about these things.

And so that's one of the things that I hope to kind of continue working on, both the complicated and simple concepts.

I thank you both for your honesty as we close out here.

Can you tell me where we can find out more about and greatest services?

Absolutely.

And greatest is our website.

And then and greatest services can be found on the social media.

And with my counseling.

I've just started my practice in a couple months ago.

And so Saha counseling and I'm in Sylvania area so you can find that on social media as well.

All right.

Thanks very much.

We are closing out a first segment even without Gretchen and Kevin.

Thank you so much for coming in.

Thank you so much for having me.

And thank you for being the anchor here.

And we'll be back in just a moment with Brad Toth, president and CEO of the YMCA.

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Welcome back to the 419.

First brought to you by which real wealth Management and our great partners at the Greater Toledo Community Foundation.

We've got a great show today.

Ronda is in the hot seat here, providing some class to me, which is really needed.

But we've got a friend of mine and really a friend of the area which will make Brad feel uncomfortable, which is also one of my driving needs here this morning.

Brad Toft, president and CEO of the YMCA.

Brad, we met a long time ago at a Waterville Rotary meeting, and everyone I can't remember was furious about something.

We sat next to each other.

I found you to be a very calming influence.

You'll see a great multitude of things.

But I will tell you in this again we'll make you feel uncomfortable.

I've always appreciated your cerebral nature, how direct you are, how linear and logical you can be in the face of angry mobs.

I'm going to make sure my wife watches that.

No, she.

Yeah.

No.

Well, you wrote this down for me to say, so I don't.

I do want to talk about the wise history.

We had the angry surfaces on just before you, which has been around since the 80s.

So that doesn't happen by accident, but you've got them beat in terms of lineage here.

So talk to me a little bit for those who may not know where and how did the why start?

Yeah.

Isn't that crazy.

So we last year we celebrated or 160th anniversary.

Terrific.

Yeah.

We you know, a group of people came together in the wilds, relatively new in the world, and they wanted to start a way.

And it's funny because some of our very first programs we did were to help Civil War veterans adjust back to living in Toledo.

Good Lord.

That crazy.

That is crazy.

But you have been with the Y for a bit of a stint yourself.

I mean, my 37th year.

37 years?

Yeah, I'm an old man.

That season we say season.

Yeah.

Yes, Brad.

Although I did tee up how much I think of you, and I certainly do.

I'm lucky to consider you a friend.

Where are you from originally?

And how did you get into 37 years of this level of service?

Yeah.

So I'm a Minnesota native.

Sure.

My dad worked for the Y and always growing up in the way, I always knew it was a good place.

Yeah.

Can I ask you a controversial question?

Do you guys have just too many lakes?

When?

When is it too many lakes?

There's never too late.

That absolutely never too many lake.

No.

But, yeah.

Your history.

So I always wanted to work with the way I got done with college and position opened up.

And a gentleman that my dad had hired hired me to be an aquatics director and run some other programs, spend some time trying to learn the why.

My first CEO job was in Ohio.

Michigan.

And the person from the tropical beautiful community.

Yeah, the person who ran that search for the National.

I was a camp counselor for my dad.

So I got my first two jobs to become because of my dad, and I'm proud of that.

I was going to ask you both.

You both are following in the footsteps we mentioned in the prior segment.

Rhonda, there are many great things about that, but there is some challenges to it as well.

These are big shoes.

Aren't you such and such as daughter?

Or aren't you such and such a son?

Right?

Working in the same space adds a layer of complexity, even on top of that meaning this is nepotism.

I don't know if they said nepotism in your time, because it sounds like you started right during the Civil War, during the Y. I think it has been because both of our parents were so well respected.

It was nothing but a positive thing.

Sure, you know that it gave me a lot of credibility I didn't deserve.

When I started, I would tell you I got my last three y jobs all by myself.

Yeah, sure.

Yeah.

And I'd also share that my my youngest son works for the Y in Washington state, the third generation, which I'm very proud of.

So there's a legacy of service, I think, that we attain from our parents 100% because we walk the the earth in ways, I think very similarly with parents that kind of were great models.

And that's what parents should be.

And we dad.

So much so that we admired what they did and the way they walked the earth.

We don't know how to live our life any differently.

That's classic.

Both of you.

Fashion.

Taking the careers out of both of your works.

But if you don't mind.

What?

I do want to continue to dive a little bit deeper on the why.

But service team means what?

I want to make a difference with my time on this earth.

And I've been blessed to be in a position to be able to help facilitate that.

And yeah, that's what motivates me.

Talk to me about what is going on at the Y. A lot of really exciting things.

This a lot, a lot, a lot.

That's why you look like this haggard creature.

I'm an old man.

That's right.

Only 26 years old.

You know, Art y is.

We're a large nonprofit.

We have ten locations.

One being our beautiful resident camp up in Michigan store camps.

We serve over 100,000 people every year.

And we've really been driven by a strategic planning process that our board has led, that has really focused on helping kids be successful in school, helped the community become healthier, and then bring people together.

We've tried to deliver true, measurable outcomes in a lot of those areas, like we're the best at pre-K just period.

Our kids leave us go to kindergarten and they are ready to learn, which we're proud of, that the healthy living space.

We have a lot of chronic disease prevention programs that are outcome based, that are making a difference in the health of a lot of people, it.

Yet we do a lot of different stuff, and it's really hard to describe what the why does.

And I heard somebody say this a year ago.

He said, you know, we do a thousand different things, but all we really do is one thing and that's changed lives for the good.

Wow.

We've got pardon me Rhonda, we've got two, two segments with you.

I do want to talk about the services here, which is a good dovetail with our and then go into sort of the heart construction and the buildings themselves and your net.

So and I think you, Rhonda, give me one moment talked about the breadth of programing.

You are celebrating an anniversary for a pretty cool program just this year, if I'm not mistaken.

Can you talk a little bit about that?

Remind me what program that is.

The rainbow.

Oh thank you.

Gosh my goodness.

So many programs.

Yeah that's true.

We're doing our 20th year of Star camp.

Something called Camp Catch a Rainbow.

I love this, and it's a free experience for kids with cancer.

We have volunteer medical folks that come.

So are the kids come and they have a full the medical support they need.

Our goal is to really help those kids just be a kid for a week.

Yeah.

You know, there's a lot of kids that you go and you watch.

They're just kids, and you notice somebody's couple don't have hair.

Some are missing limbs, but they're just being kids together.

Yeah, we, you know, regrettably, we lose kids from one summer to the next.

It's it's an unbelievable experience.

I'm new to finding out about this, and I can't tell you how moved I was by.

This is in process.

I was diagnosed with leukemia when I was a little kid, which turned out to be a different Zs, but my parents had to spend a significant amount of time in a child's oncology ward after just losing my brother.

And many of the people that were on that floor, to your point, Mr.

Topped were going to be not going home.

So we mentioned it with the services and you what the Y does is not just provide services for the child or the kids, but provide something positive for the parents.

We have a myriad of things going on in our community and across the world.

Obviously, the national news came to our backyards just this past week, and we're quickly to blame one another and everyone we possibly can.

Other than looking in the mirror and saying what role I played in it, but the Y, the Y has been creating what we've been doing about things like this for 100 plus years.

So we talk about the challenges of safety and security and the fact that the apocalypse is upon us.

But I do want to walk through, as painfully as it may be for you.

And I know that you're on a very high level here.

So the granular nature is something you don't get to brag about.

But talking about feeling the summers with positive things, you still a summer with positive things every year.

So talk to me about what?

The doors are open all the time, but the doors are definitely open this summer.

Walk me through a summer at the Y. Yeah, so I'll do that.

But first I will tell you one of my showbread.

You do what I say.

One of the things I'm really proud of.

If you go into any of our buildings right now, you're going to be to have people of all walks of life, of all socioeconomic areas, and they're all together in a space.

There's no judgment.

Everybody there is just trying to get better.

So I'm really proud of the role of the Y plays within that.

So that's going on right now and it'll happen every day.

That's right.

The beyond that we have our summer childcare for school aged kids will serve about 900 kids this summer.

And they have a great experience.

I think they go to the museum.

I think we one day a week, we bus everybody to our Sylvania campus, where we have 34 acres of outdoor space that they fish, they canoe, do some Stem activities, the and then we do a lot of unique specialty programs in the summer partnered with connecting kids to meals.

A couple of our locations to feed kids.

You know, our Wayman Pomeroy, which is only a year old or so beautiful.

It's unbelievable, isn't it?

Beautiful?

And the way the community has embraced that has been beyond my expectations.

You know, we have seniors there right now that are we have a partnership with the Office on Aging.

There's a black senior center is now part of our why.

So we'll be feeding seniors.

They'll be doing karaoke.

They'll be doing dance class.

This is a block center.

Insisted that you do the polka.

No, actually, the line dancing class is not polka.

Thank God.

Yeah, that.

That is a service to community making.

Not making people do polka is probably a win in itself.

Yeah, yeah.

So our summers are busy outdoor pools.

You know, we have an outdoor pools in Sylvania East Wine and we run the city of Pool in the summer.

We talked a little bit in the prior conversation about cultural differences.

At risk of generalizing here.

Swim lessons has been part of children's lives across the community.

I did my swim lessons at the Y. Rhonda, again, forgive me here, but when we're talking about swimming and making people comfortable with the water, that is something that, culturally speaking, is usually something African American community does not have access to.

This is important.

Yeah, it's so important.

And you know, we all know Wanda Jean butts in our community.

But the history of the culture is vastly different.

You know, Africans were known for swimming.

And so but the lack of access because of a whole bunch of things that we don't have time to talk about has prevented that.

But places like the YMCA are so relevant.

I actually learn to swim at the YWCA town and took advantage is that while you're the worst or swimmer than you could be if you were the other one.

Hush hush and love the fact.

Like I'm going on my, you know, 60th year and I, I sorry, I literally would cry because I did not want to go to camp.

And then at the end of store camp, we would cry because we did not want to leave camp.

Yeah.

We didn't want to come back home.

It's a magical it's a special place.

My kids, who are almost 30.

Yeah, my twin daughters went through store camp as well.

That's awesome.

What a legacy.

And congratulations on 160 years.

That's amazing.

My anecdotal experience with swimming was at the downtown.

Why?

And again, this isn't created just for the sake of the show.

But we went I was with my mom and we swam to a different mom.

And that mom's child swam to my mom and I swam to an African-American woman.

So again, not to be heavy handed here, but there's something you said about that moment, right?

I was a kid from Old Orchard, although I went to public schools, so it was certainly the melting pot, as we all aspired to be a healthier piece there.

But that's just a granular example of what the why does.

Let me ask you a question.

You said something about walking into the why.

It's all walks of life.

And so this is probably already beat what I thought was going to be my showstopper question.

But that's what a better thinker does to me on a daily basis.

And my friend Rhonda does as well.

But when you walk into the why?

Well, I mean, work sucks, right?

No matter how great your jobs are.

And we have three pretty great jobs, but we walk into the why is there a look to it?

Is there a sound to it that resets you on a molecular level every time I go in?

Tell me about it.

I mean, you understand this too.

You know, you walk in and I've given a lot of tours of Waymon, for example.

Yeah.

And I get the invite.

I've never had one tour.

That's fine.

Happy to do that any time.

You know, I gave a tour right after school ended this year and places packed of all ages.

There was kids in the pool, in the gaming studio.

The seniors were in the senior center.

The buzz of the why, you can feel the impact that's happening in the sense of community.

And you can do that to the granular library.

Walk into a swamp, Wesleyan.

You can tell if this one lesson is going well and it's so positive, you know.

Yeah, yeah.

Some of my best moments of my career when I was running programs were realizing that buzz of positive, positive stuff that was going.

Do you have a moment?

I mean, you have a 37 years is a deep book, right?

Do you have a moment that stands to you and in the sea that you want to share with us today?

Like, not in a moment, because this is there is some I've been humbled by the experiences that I've been able to have.

I ran a camp years ago and it was successful.

Not because of me.

I was a program person, so I didn't have much impact on that.

But we filled up and one day a little girl got off the bus and I could have brought the letter because I still have it.

And the letter said, Dear Brad, hope you're doing well.

I hope your summer is going well.

I'm not going to be able to attend camp this summer because my parents didn't get signed up in time.

I'm going to miss the long, bumpy bus ride, the horses and the people most of all.

And then she said, my parents just got divorced last week.

So that little girl was in camp the next next day because she needed it.

And it tells me that there are so many obstacles.

This was 30 years ago.

Yeah, it tells me there are so many obstacles for kids to be able to actualize their potential.

And what we do is eliminate those barriers over and over and over again.

We've been doing it for 106 years.

We're going to go into the next segment and talk about eliminating barriers.

Some of this geographic right.

You have a wide net.

That might be the boring part of the show, but I do want to talk about the buildings themselves, how this is funded, which in itself is not an easy thing.

And we're going to put you through the 419 quiz, which I can only describe as an excruciating experience.

I do think you're ready for it again.

My name is Matt Killam.

I have my special guest anchor here, Rhonda Sewell.

Brad Toft, president and CEO, will be stuck with us for yet another segment brought to you by We Throw.

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Welcome back to another episode of the 419.

We are in our second segment with Brad Toff, the president and CEO of the YMCA.

Brad, thank you so much.

Thank you for putting up with Rhonda.

She's literally the only person that would do this.

Everyone else has my phone blocked.

So thank you again to Rhonda.

The Great Community Foundation is doing a million great things around and have for a long time.

The why is at the top of that pyramid.

We talked a little bit about breaking down barriers, and we talked a little bit about the programmatic reach in order to have access and equity.

Some of that has to be location, right.

Location, location, location I think is a mantra from a different business model.

But it is true for both of our works, right?

You have the reverse challenge, right?

Having a singular location that you want to make sure everyone has access to.

But you have got a footprint here.

To go back a little bit of the history of this.

Where was the first why and then how did it spread into the empire that you now sit on top of and Lord over?

So it started in London, in England, started in Boston in the US, actually there celebrating the 175th anniversary.

So 15 years after it hit US shores, we had White Toledo, which is pretty cool.

Very cool.

We we didn't own properties when we started.

We were just doing programs.

I believe our first building was just north of the current downtown library.

And then we had a number of different offices.

And as you know, the in those days, there would be fires and things would burn to the ground.

And so, gosh, I believe it was in the early 1900s, we actually had our first permanent facility.

And now you oversee we have ten locations.

Three of them are in Michigan.

One is actually a resident camp and then eight around the greater area.

When you look at the overwhelming complexity of dealing with everyday human beings and maintenance of facilities, I do want to get into a bit of the org chart, although that might not be interesting to some.

It's important to know how something of this size and the magnitude of offerings functions, but the buildings themselves and locations.

How do you decide where you need to be or where you need to be next?

Yeah, we go through all the due diligence that any functioning business would do.

We do market studies.

We do feasibility studies and let that drive.

What does that look like from what you provide?

What are you looking for?

Are you looking for a delta of services or a growth in population?

Yeah.

So like the Weymouth Palmer.

Why yes.

Before.

And I got to thank the city of Toledo for coming along with us in that building.

We, we there's a firm that does work for wise that really looks at who's likely to become a member of the line, what kind of amenities that they want, what they may be able to afford for a price point for our membership.

And then from that study, we typically would go into a fundraising feasibility study because our buildings we have to build a capital.

That's right.

We don't we have very, very little margin, and we can't charge enough to have capital replacement built back into our operating budget.

And if everything is positive, then we move forward with the campaign and we raised enough.

We build a building.

How long does that process take?

Years.

Yeah, I believe it.

Yeah, I believe years.

Yeah.

And some in the risk of doing real due diligence and having it be the length of time that you're committed to it as things change within that timeline.

Right.

The last five years, of course, probably being the prime example certainly of our lifetimes, maybe not around is because you were here during the Spanish flu.

Yeah.

Of course.

Yeah.

And survive a tough time.

Yeah.

You did so well.

Yeah.

Again, Rhonda, putting it back on your lap.

You were lucky.

I think your words to to work under Claude and you and you have a lot of said a great deal.

Both of your agencies are the largest provider of public services in our region.

You know that.

I think that and Clyde's leadership certainly helped that, as Jason's is currently the net of services there, the amount of people that you see come through your doors or plug into your programing is as diverse as they can be.

Right.

Talk to me a little bit about your experience in that capacity and moving forward, your career, making sure that you're continuing to serve northwest Ohio and the way you have.

Yeah, you touched on my time, my 15 years with the Toledo Lucas County Public Library, one of the greatest and most democratic of all institutions, our public libraries.

And Clyde Scholes, the late Clyde Scholes, who was my mentor and really built what we know as the library system in in the Toledo area and, you know, countywide as well.

And Jason Kuchma doing a wonderful job as the leader now, who was a better dresser, Jason?

Or I'd say it's a close tie.

Me too.

Yeah.

Jason is going to be furious when he hears this, but he needs he needs our help.

And I mean yours.

Forgive me.

But, Alex Haley, we all know Alex Haley, who wrote roots, right?

Yes.

He once said that.

If you want to know something about a community, all you have to do is spend an afternoon in a public library.

And every there's there's an equal amount of access to knowledge.

Yes.

And I think it's similar with the why you can go into a why and really get a look at what the community is all about.

And you see that there's no barriers.

It's access for all.

And one of the things that's similar also even I'm going to count the museum Metroparks, the library, you know, the white GT, GT, all of them.

It's just their presence alone is serves as almost like an economic driver to a community.

Especially that Wayman Palmer having that there, that does something to a community and thank you for that.

But I think that that's that equity you're talking about and equal access to all.

So we're talking about outside the fence line services, Brad, have had to beat you into becoming a little self-congratulatory, which I failed at.

So I'm going to move on.

I'm just going to throw it.

I'm gonna throw in the towel here.

Talk to me about all the people that work at the Y to make this work look relatively easy, which of course it is not.

So you've got buildings, you have a giant footprint.

The services you provide are vast and they're long standing.

So there's got to be an army of people that makes this happen.

So few people are interested in the org chart, but for those the people who are listening talk to me about how this works.

Yeah, yeah.

And I would tell you the reason, number one reason for our success is the quality of the people that that work for the Y. They are highly professional.

They're the most committed to service of group of people I've ever worked with.

You know, they're not working for the lied to get rich.

They're doing it because of the impact that they have on every level.

And they're highly professional.

You know, we're so the national Y is a federated organization, which means they can't dictate programs to us.

But they provided excellent staff training.

So our and we have a highly professional staff.

Yes.

1400 employees total about 165 full time.

The rest are part time.

So one of the things we do, we're the first employer for a lot of young people.

Yes.

Over the years.

Yeah.

But yeah.

So we.

How old were you when you got your first job at the Y. I did an internship during college.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah.

Rhonda, what was your first job?

You don't want to know.

It was at that wonderful school in the north, U of M, okay.

And I was in the janitorial services, and I had tools, and I just, you know, put the little nuggets here and the little wrenches here.

And that was my first job.

I know some of your head was here.

For those of you were just listening.

Total disaster.

That was high school and 1400 employees.

I won't go into the complexity of having some of it be part time, and not that would be for a full employment seminar.

Correct.

But funding again in my line of work is the first or second question.

You on your crew are not doing it to be rich.

As you said, the complexity of a capital stack to build a new why isn't an easy gig made only more difficult in the recent recent history?

But.

Talk to me about how the Y is funded and how that works.

Yeah, so one of the things I would share is that of those 100,000 people we serve every year, nearly 40% of them are getting some sort of help to be a member of the Y. Sure.

So we do eliminate we turn no one away because of their inability to pay.

And that's for every program and everything that we do.

You know, we as I mentioned, our operating model isn't sufficient to be able to reinvest in our buildings.

So we have to raise money.

Yeah.

And we're fortunate with the city of Toledo.

And the only reason that happene because of the investment that the city of Toledo made.

And as you guys both know, really the idea of facility partners is really probably the best way of of serving the community.

It and that fundraising the one you know, one of our challenges in Toledo, there's not a lot of deep pockets and it and they have to pick and choose what they invest in.

But yeah, we do as well as we can.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so the airplay between the Y National and Y local, is there a fellowship there.

Do you link arms and or is it also must be a bit of an AA meeting.

Meaning it's a group therapy to talk about how you're going to meet the next challenges.

What is that?

Yeah, very much so.

Yeah.

So they their purpose is to support local wise to best serve their community.

When we formed 155 years ago, they recognized that somebody in Chicago doesn't know the needs of the Toledo program, which you do.

So I'm really, really grateful for that.

But they they do mobilize ourselves.

We're very well networked.

We organize ourselves by state, by neighborhood and state.

Stuff is more of a advocacy, as you guys can imagine.

And we share best practices.

They have sort of it's certifications that we take advantage.

We can get certified in anything we do and it is all very, very positive.

I'm always fascinated with the vacillation between micro and macro management.

Right.

So you're looking at things on a national level, which are eventually going to find their way to even our little burg, but can you talk to me a little bit about sort of your leadership thoughts or mantra between micro macro, micro macro you're not.

Although 1400 employees seems like a lot, you are probably having to be thrown into a day to day to some degree, in some granular nature, because you just aren't a giant place.

And that is by design.

Yeah.

You know, we are we have a great staff.

So I have a a chief operating officer that basically handles the operation way of branch executive leadership that runs each individual branch and then program expertise.

Coming up our years, we have great people that they can solve any issue that we have.

I would tell you, and I think that's why I'm in Toledo, is because we're not some of my colleagues across the country have these grandiose strategic plans that mean nothing.

Yeah.

So we are more tactical in our thought process.

That leads to strategy in some ways.

And I know that's contrary to it, but we want to get the work done.

That is really well said.

I think that you can you can say strategy all the time, and then there are people suffering as a result because it isn't hitting the ground.

And then by the time you look up again, it's time for another three year strategic plan.

And that's not to denote that.

Go ahead.

I agree with you.

I'm not being critical of my colleagues, but say we're going to reduce obesity on the county by 10% in 20 years.

What does that mean?

Yeah, that's where we're trying to like our focus is on let's improve our internal measurements leading to kindergarten readiness success, because we know that long term that kids are going to be more successful.

It's a it's a grossly simplified statement.

Right.

But you talk about in self-improvement, doing the next right thing, doing the next right thing at every day when you open up the why does inform strategic planning, right?

To that end, it's a good segue into what is next, right?

Yeah, a lot of wins here.

You just open the women.

Palmer.

By no means should you be.

I think putting pressure on yourself to do the next thing that isn't how you lead anyway, to your credit, but what is on the horizon other than providing the absolute godsend the services you already do.

But what's next?

Yeah.

So I would tell you, our board of directors is very forward thinking, and I'm grateful for the guidance and support that they give.

Very proud of the direction that they have put the why in our next.

We do have a project that's in process.

We recently purchased the old LA Fitness Espada Gold's Gym building in Sylvania, gone through all the due diligence, and that's going to be a tremendous positive thing for that community.

It's also going to be a tremendously positive thing for our association.

That's awesome, Mr.

Toft.

It is always awkward after having an important good conversation to roll into the here we go.

419.

Excited?

Let's go.

Shane.

Our producer edge this segment with a passion of seven sons.

So Shane, this one's for you buddy.

It's going to be for rapid fire questions for me.

My colleague here, Ronda, is going to ask you your favorite thing in the region.

Is that what it is?

The one thing I don't know.

I'm just not sure.

Every single day I'm winging no.

Describe the region in one word, if you can, and the nine of your favorite things, and I'll walk you through it, brother.

All right.

Good.

Here's the hard part.

Okay.

Other than having to look at me, what's your favorite way to waste time online editing pictures and chat?

GTP, my man, what do you think about more than anything else?

How I can be better person.

How many times a day do you lose your keys or phone?

Rarely.

That doesn't surprise me.

I don't know where either one of those objects are right now.

Yeah, right now you can get home with me.

That's right.

We'll just walk.

What's the best thing you've ever eaten from a restaurant?

Oh my gosh.

I mean, Mansi has a great steak.

Yes it does.

All right.

Thank you, man, for that I didn't mean.

And then.

And then the final.

What is your favorite thing in the region?

Yeah.

And I know this is sound corny, but the YMCA.

Absolutely.

Good answer.

The impact that we have.

I'm so humbled to be part of our great organization and the history of what we've done, that I could think of nothing better to do with my life's work.

I will cut the 419 quiz short again because Shane hates it and it's just he and I today.

If he did, if you did have to describe the region in one with one word, what would it be?

So the one word is hard.

That's the one thing I've always said when I came to town.

I've been in five communities.

The leadership in Toledo gives you time.

I've been in communities that they don't give you time and that I don't know what word that describes, but they care about what this community is.

Yeah, we should be proud of that.

And we're proud of you.

Let me if, if, if you could script how people would refer to your legacy at, at the Y. I know that's a difficult question.

And you're very humble and I'm grateful for your leadership in that part of you.

But what would be meaningful to you to have someone say about the time you spend with the Y, that he did his best to change the world?

Yeah, well, you're doing that every day.

And sort of the 1400 people that work under you and serve you.

My my team do the work.

Yeah.

I'm just a figurehead.

I mean, yeah, no, we know Brad.

I know, yeah.

Good lord.

All right.

Thanks very much.

We'll be closing out a different episode of the 419 with my friend and colleague.

Rhonda will be back to you in just a few minutes.

Thank you.

And thank you.

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Welcome back to the 419.

Rhonda, you and I made it.

Thank you for again providing some actual talent to the show and helping your buddy in a pinch.

Again, Gretchen is out.

She is called in to duty.

As most of you know, she's an attorney.

We're extremely proud of her, and nothing means more to Gretchen than providing people a real justice and support through legal community.

Kevin, of course, is just on vacation, so who cares about that guy?

You're here.

Pretty great show.

If I do say so myself.

You steward it.

But two great guests and great services is an outstanding institution.

Talked a little bit about counseling.

We talked about the why with Brad Toft.

There is some real duality here as you found your way as you do, to connecting with other people, your thoughts about being on the show and some things that either learned or new or reinforced.

Yeah.

It's just it reinforces, you know, you and I both, and Gretchen and Kevin have a ride or die mentality when it comes to what we love about Toledo and the greater Toledo area.

And having our two guests on today from an Grady Services YMCA.

I mean, those are anchor, you know, places.

Those are anchor institutions.

What would where would we be without them in our community?

And so that's what the show really promotes so well, is the good work that we're doing here.

And we have become a model for other communities and other cities.

And Brad touched on it really well in his segment when he talked about there's just something different about the 419.

There's something different.

And it's that dignity that patients that allows someone in leadership to grow in leadership and not be rushed.

And we talk about this.

There's a spirit of collaboration I'm finding among anchor institutions.

We're partnering the museum and and the Metroparks are partnering on projects that I have not seen.

I've been here since I was about 21.

I have not seen in past years.

And this is there's just something different.

And those two guests really exemplified that.

I think some of it, too, is if you allow me that no one is coming to save us, so we better get together and save ourselves.

Rhonda, you're a dear friend and I'm thrilled to sit next to you at any capacity.

But this morning, it's wonderful to have you here.

The clarity, the grace which you walk through the space is, I know, on your parents shoulders.

Great show.

For those of you that are tuning into this or have no idea how, we're usually so now, thanks to which wealth management and of course we are powered by wheat, which is about equity and inclusion, bringing news and information in a positive light to all of you.

The 419, powered by WGTE is made possible in part by supporters like you.

Oh.