YMCA duo taking on community health challenges

Tabitha Ervin loves Fort Wayne. When she moved to the city, her plan was to stay three years then move home to Detroit. Nineteen years later, she’s happy to still be here.

“Even though I’m not from here, I’ve been adopted by this community,” said Ervin, who serves as chief operating officer of YMCA of Greater Fort Wayne. “What I love about it is that you can work hard and get something out of it here.”

It’s easy to fall in love with someplace where you can see the direct result of the effort you put into the community, Ervin said.

That perspective, combined with her pragmatic, results-driven nature, makes her the perfect complement to YMCA President and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Gritzmaker. He shared that the Y is pursuing “big, audacious goals,” and Ervin helps make them come to life.

Together, they make the perfect one-two punch for executing a plan of action.

“When there is an idea where we think A and D might connect, Tabitha is the person who can align B and C in the middle to make it all come together,” Gritzmaker said.

That’s a good, because the goals Gritzmaker and Ervin want to achieve are not small.

Setting Sights High A few years ago during strategic planning, one statistic stopped the team in its tracks. According to the American College of Sports Medicine’s American Fitness Index, Fort Wayne ranked 88th out of 100 cities in the U.S.

Another startling report, former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s advisory, Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation , outlined the negative health effects of the lack of social connection and drove much of the team’s discussion and strategic plan. As one of the largest not-for-profit organizations in the greater Fort Wayne area, one that annually touches more than 100,000 lives and whose mission specifically charges them with developing programs “that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all,” the team felt inspired by the opportunity to positively impact both reports.

“At the YMCA, we not only get people moving, but we get people moving together,” Gritzmaker said. “Even though the economic indicators for Fort Wayne look good overall, we also need to measure ourselves by health equity. We need to ensure equitable access. If we can address equity and access and build stronger social connections, I believe we can become a top 10 healthy community in the nation.”

Path to Success Since 2023, the YMCA’s audacious goal of shepherding Fort Wayne into the nation’s top 10 healthy communities has driven the organization’s strategic planning process.

Gritzmaker and Ervin have worked hard to align the entire team, from the board to all 1,200 employees, through clarity, accountability, measurable goals, and regular communication. They’ve implemented the Entrepreneurial Operating System, which creates clarity, alignment, and accountability across the YMCA association.

“Access is one of the ways we try to actualize our healthy community goal,” Ervin said. “Whether it’s facilities, camps, programs, group exercise pop-ups, people have to have access to what we are talking about. We can’t make people participate, but we can create the opportunities they need.”

Another piece of the puzzle is affordability. The YMCA aims to not turn anyone away for the inability to pay by offering an income-based scholarship program. In addition, Group Ex on the Go, a variety of drop-in exercise classes taught by YMCA instructors, are offered around the area at outdoor locations at no charge and require no registration or membership.

“We try to go where people are or where people need us,” Ervin said. “We’re constantly thinking of how we can get a YMCA or a YMCA program within a 12- to 15-minute drive time of everyone.”

Keeping people engaged requires more than just opportunities and access, however. It also involves fostering connection. It means creating spaces where people can interact with one another and develop relationships, because it is those relationships that keep people coming back over the long term.

“Ultimately, our goal is to take people from casual to connected to committed,” Ervin said.

Accountability and Results Although the marquee goal is to become one of the top 10 healthiest cities in the country, Gritzmaker and Ervin need a method to measure success along the way in order to stay on track. To that end, they’ve identified several leading indicators: membership growth, participation levels, members progressing through various programs, frequency of visits, and total scholarship assistance. They also conduct regular member and employee surveys.

Their 10-year success target, Gritzmaker said, is to somehow touch one of every two people in the area.

“Neither one of us misses an opportunity to invite people into the vision,” Gritzmaker said. “We keep it at the forefront of everything we do. We have scorecards and metrics that show priorities and results, and we hold ourselves accountable. We share the dashboard with our board, at meetings, and with 1,200 employees across four counties. We try to talk about the vision in every room we’re in.”

And it’s working.

According to the 2025 ACSM American Fitness Index, Fort Wayne has moved up to 77th position after only three years.

Gritzmaker is quick to note that work done through the Y is just one component of the equation. Credit goes to the whole community.

“People are trying to live healthier,” he said. “We’re benefiting from the right time, the right place, the right community, and the right size.”

According to Gritzmaker, many opportunities exist in Fort Wayne for people to get moving toward better health.

“One of my local favorites is our trail system,” he said. “I’m just amazed we have this asset in our community. It helps you get nearly anywhere in the city, and so many people are out there all the time.”

Ervin looks forward to Fort4Fitness every year, where she leads two water stations.

“I just love cheering people on,” she said. “It brings me so much joy to participate and hear their stories.”

That feeling is exactly what Gritzmaker and Ervin want to bring to people through the Y, and in the process, facilitate better health.

“The Y is a nonprofit with a nonprofit mission. I wish more people knew that,” Ervin said. “Some people will just come in to work out, but there is so much more. There are a ton of ways people can get engaged with the Y.

“Whatever staying in shape looks or feels like for you, you can find it here. You might come to work out, talk, drink coffee with friends. You can find community at the Y. It’s really a thing!”

YMCA duo taking on community health challenges

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