TOLEDO, Ohio — Jenai Hicklin works in the Warren Sherman area through her non-profit, the New Leaf Group. She used to live in the area and said she was on the neighborhood council in the 1980s and '90s.
"Sometimes it became and felt really destitute," Hicklin said. "Things had happened in this area that we weren't proud of and showed us community does matter."
But, Hicklin says she's glad to see the Wayman D. Palmer YMCA project come to life as it is something the community hasn't seen in a long time.
"There are people that have gone on before us, that things were promised to them, that were supposed to come to neighborhood, and they just didn't happen," she said.
She said when she was on the neighborhood council, they wanted to clean the area up and tear down abandoned homes.
"Some of those things just got kicked by the side," Hicklin said. "We don't know if it was money, we don't know what it was."
In September, the YMCA project formally broke ground, fulfilling the city's promise to the Warren Sherman neighborhood.
The YMCA's executive director, Eric Williams, is preparing for the move.
"Where we are now, we are in a good position, but where we are heading to is going to be bigger and better things," Williams said.
They are bringing in new activities and programs to get ready to serve more people with the new building, such as Hicklin's non-profit to host Books and Basketball. The mentorship program held its first session on Monday.
"Everybody partnering together to really make this work, that's what I'm excited about," Hicklin said.
If all goes as planned, the YMCA is expected to open in 2025.