The Crenshaw Family YMCA, a fixture of the neighborhood for 74 years, is getting a $3 million infusion of state money that will fund extensive upgrades and bring the facility its first-ever fitness gym. State Assemblymember Isaac Bryan presented the funds during a ceremony Wednesday morning, marking a new chapter for a facility that has served generations of families in Crenshaw and Baldwin Hills.
The $3 million award was reported by CBS News, which detailed that the state funds will go toward extensive upgrades at the YMCA, including the addition of its first fitness gym. Bryan, who represents the area in the state Assembly, used the ceremony to frame the investment as both practical and symbolic. “Institutions like this one should promote well-being and create opportunities for the next generation,” he said, according to the outlet.
Bryan did not mince words about the stakes. He said the Crenshaw YMCA should not be allowed to become underfunded or fade away, and that people must step in to preserve it, per the same report. The warning underscores just how central the facility has become to the surrounding community since it first opened its doors in 1952 to serve the growing Crenshaw and Baldwin Hills neighborhoods.
A Community Anchor Since the 1950s
The Crenshaw Family YMCA has long operated as more than just a gym or pool. Today the facility offers after-school enrichment, guitar lessons, gardening workshops, and fitness classes including yoga and line dancing, according to the CBS report. A 2014 profile from ourweekly.com described the Y as having been a pillar of the community since 1951, offering daycare, after-school sports, and various youth enrichment programs even then.
That same year, Kaiser Permanente chose the YMCA as the site of its annual Community Volunteer Day, according to the Our Weekly account. The planned project called for more than 150 volunteers to repaint and refurbish the aging building, using 86 gallons of paint and installing nearly 3,000 square feet of new carpeting. The plans also included new furniture, asphalt patch work and replacement, along with general cleaning, the outlet reported.
Jordan Brand and Westbrook's Foundation Rebuilt the Courts
The new state grant follows an earlier wave of private investment in the facility's sports spaces. In 2021, Jordan Brand and Russell Westbrook's Why Not? Foundation donated funds specifically for renovations of the YMCA's sports facility and basketball courts. The foundation said in a statement that “the generous donation by the Jordan Brand and Russell Westbrook's Why Not? Foundation has reinvigorated the facility,” according to whynotfoundation.org.
That project notably involved the young people who actually use the courts. The foundation noted that the children had a hand in the redesign and a voice throughout the process, a detail that distinguished the 2021 renovation from a purely top-down makeover. The finished product included a brand-new basketball court and upgraded sports facility, as abc7.com reported at the time, along with several upgraded rooms including a player's lounge and a tech lab.
What's Next for the Fitness Gym
With the new $3 million state award, the Crenshaw Family YMCA is positioned for its most significant physical expansion in years, this time adding something the facility has never had: a dedicated fitness gym. For a building that has weathered decades of wear and relied on a patchwork of corporate donations and volunteer labor to stay functional, the state's commitment represents a different kind of support — one Bryan framed as essential to keeping the Y's doors open for the next generation of Crenshaw and Baldwin Hills families.
