Nations Ford Advocates Boost Calls for Community Space as YMCA Announces Closure

Community advocates along the Nations Ford/Arrowood Road corridors are stepping up efforts to create community space and programming for residents in southwest Charlotte in the wake of last week’s news that the Steele Creek YMCA will close in early 2025.  

Transforming Nations Ford — a nonprofit community coalition that advocates for southwest Charlotte’s 28273, 28277, 28217, and 28210 zip codes — spent much of 2024 lobbying Charlotte City Council and other local officials to help turn a piece of city-owned land into a park and incubator space for local nonprofits.

As the year has drawn to a close, they’ve begun advocating for the development of a regional recreation center at Ramblewood Park to help address the community needs facing the corridors: economic challenges, linguistic isolation, community violence, educational gaps, health and safety.

News broke on Dec. 11 that the Steele Creek YMCA location in Ayrsley Town Center will close sometime after Jan. 31, 2025, adding to the need for a community space in southwest Charlotte. 

In an email to the YMCA of Greater Charlotte on Dec. 16, Transforming Nations Ford board chair Joi Mayo expressed concerns for the future of Nations Ford/Arrowood corridor residents who will be impacted by the closure.   

“This area has long faced challenges, including limited access to affordable recreational facilities, vital for enhancing health [and] fostering community bonds,” wrote Mayo, board chair of Transforming Nations Ford.

Speaking to Queen City Nerve the same day, she called the YMCA news disheartening. The affordable yet underserved area she advocates for, located just 3-4 miles east of Ayrsley Town Center and home to a large population of Black and brown people including many small business owners, has been plagued with historical disinvestment, she said.

Instead of scaling back recreational spaces and programs in the corridor, efforts are needed to increase them, she insisted. 

Listen: Nooze Hounds: Joi Mayo Is Transforming Nations Ford

In a press release, the YMCA said it plans to refocus its efforts in the area through longstanding partnerships with Central Steele Creek Presbyterian Church and Christ the King Church, though Mayo pointed out that those two churches are not very close to Nations Ford/Arrowood.

Affordable options closer to the corridor, like a nearby Planet Fitness, don’t offer group exercise classes, which are a great drawing point for women, she said.

Mayo also emphasized that 30% of Nations Ford/Arrowood corridor residents are under the age of 18 and the neighborhood has been plagued with gun violence, contributing to its bad image. In 2024, Queen City Nerve has tracked 12 murders in the area bordered by East Arrowood Road, Nations Ford Road, Archdale Drive and South Boulevard, including three homicides in December alone. 

In the above map, black markers signify deaths by gun violence, green markers signify killings that may be deemed justified, red markers signify stabbings, yellow markers signify murder by vehicle, purple markers signify deaths by trauma or unknown cause, and blue markers signify police killings.

The city and county have partnered in funding an Alternatives to Violence Program for the Nations Ford/Arrowood corridors that’s being spearheaded by Urban League of Central Carolinas, though such programming can take some time to make an impact. 

“Additional investment is needed when we talk about our young people,” Mayo said. “How are we being thoughtful of adding proactive situations and platforms in order to engage them so that they’re not getting into any type of mischief? For 50 plus years, the community has been asking for a recreation space, and that has not happened.” 

Transforming Nations Ford is lobbying Mecklenburg County to turn the Ramblewood Soccer complex at 10200 Nations Ford Road into a regional recreation center. In contrast to the soon-to-be-shuttered YMCA, which offers a few group exercise classes, workout equipment and a weight room, the proposed rec center would feature more group exercise classes and possible cooking classes. 

The center would help address health disparities in Black and brown communities by introducing preventative health measures like exercise and eating healthy, Mayo asserted.

“People really aren’t working out or eating healthy,” she said. “[It’s time to] think outside the box, so we’re not just continuing to invest in hospitals.” 

A regional rec center would be within walking distance to the community and connected to the corridor via bike lanes and bus routes so children could get there safely.

Transforming Nations Ford has also lobbied Charlotte City Council to help transform a city-owned 14-acre plot at 7600 England St. off East Arrowood Road into a park and incubator space for local nonprofits. 

Mayo pointed to ourBRIDGE for KIDS, which offers programming and resources to newly arrived immigrant, refugee, and first-generation children, as just one example of the multiple nonprofits doing great work in the area.  

On Feb. 11, 2025, Transforming Nations Ford will host a workshop titled Shaping our Future to bring neighbors up to speed on the efforts. 

Miles Vaughn, strategic partnerships development manager with the city of Charlotte’s Neighborhood & Business Services, will be on hand alongside city and county representatives to share information about the England Street parcel and hear directly from stakeholders in the area, from business owners to youth and the elderly, Mayo said. 

Transforming Nations Ford plans to work with high schools and middle schools for the event, inviting students to talk about what they want to see in their community.

“We don’t want to just talk to kids,” Mayo said. “We want them to be part of the conversation. This is their community as well … All stakeholders should be just as invested in making sure that our community is a place where people want to live and are thriving.”