A Bridge on Troost: 20 Years of the Cleaver Family YMCA

Troost Avenue has never been “just a street.”
 

For generations in Kansas City, Troost carried history in the pavement, shaped by policy, housing, and school boundaries that didn’t merely reflect segregation, they reinforced it. Over time, Troost became a living dividing line between east and west, investment and disinvestment, opportunity and obstacle. 
 

And yet, right in that corridor, something different took root.

Nearly 20 years ago, the YMCA opened the Cleaver Family YMCA on Troost with a purpose bigger than a building. The vision was bold and practical: not a slogan, not a speech, but a place where belonging could be practiced daily. Families sharing the same wellness floor. Kids in the same gym. Neighbors meeting at the same front desk. A community, side by side. 
 

This year, as we mark two decades of service at the Cleaver Y, we’re reflecting on what it has meant, what it has changed, and what the next chapter can become.
 

 

In a recent episode of The Movement, YMCA of Greater Kansas City President and CEO Mark Hulet sat down with Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II to talk about Kansas City, community, and what it takes to move from separation toward shared life.
 

Congressman Cleaver’s story holds deep roots, including growing up with real hardship, and later arriving in Kansas City and living just a block off Troost during a time when segregation was not ancient history, but daily reality. 
 

When he describes Troost, he doesn’t describe it as geography. He describes it as a line people lived with, one that shaped neighborhoods, schools, and futures. 

He shares how boundaries were enforced not only culturally, but structurally. He points to the way Black families were historically restricted in where they could live, and how those decisions echoed through generations. 
 

These are not stories meant to reopen wounds for the sake of pain. They are stories told so we can tell the truth, and build better.
 

 

The Cleaver Family YMCA was built to be a bridge.
 

Not with speeches. With shared space.

Congressman Cleaver said it plainly: this is not a “Black YMCA” or a “white YMCA.” It is a YMCA, and that matters because it creates a place where people show up for the same reasons, health, connection, safety, community, and they do it together. 
 

He reflected on how meaningful it is to walk through the doors and see what’s normal inside these walls: people not scanning the room by race, but simply coming to swim, exercise, connect, and belong. 

In his words, on this block and the blocks nearby, “we have erased color,” and the next generations benefit from that kind of intentional community building. 
 

He also shared a piece of history many people may not know: the role of Hallmark leadership, including Don Hall, in supporting the YMCA presence on Troost, and the surprise of the Y being named the Cleaver Family YMCA. 

It was a signal that this YMCA was meant to stand for something, and to serve everyone.
 

 

Belonging is not abstract at the Cleaver Y. It shows up in everyday moments.
 

It shows up when neighbors become familiar faces. It shows up in youth programs and community support under one roof. 

It shows up in moments like MLK Day of Service, when hundreds of volunteers pour into the building and the work becomes visible: community, shoulder to shoulder, doing the next right thing. 
 

This is what a bridge looks like.

 

 

Anniversaries are mirrors and windows.

A mirror, because they force us to ask: did we build what we said we would build? 
 

A window, because they invite the bigger question: what will it take for the next chapter to be defined not by a dividing line, but by connection? 
 

The Cleaver Family YMCA was never only about fitness. It was about the work of belonging. And as Kansas City changes, the mission stays steady: creating spaces where people can grow, gather, and move forward together.

As Congressman Cleaver reminded us, progress is real, and hope is something we choose to keep alive by continuing to build, continue to serve, and continue to love our neighbors in practical ways. 
 

Watch or listen to the full conversation.

 

Available now: