‘So doggone proud:’ Elmhurst YMCA executive retires after 47 years

At 14, Steve Dahlin was headed in the wrong direction.

He’d been getting into trouble at school, had a couple of scrapes with the law. Then one night, Steve and his buddies sneaked into an auto dealership. The keys were in the cars.

“Even though we had no idea how to drive, we drove them,” Dahlin said.

Dahlin was sentenced to community service. He served it at the YMCA in Park Ridge, where he, his parents and five siblings were members.

“Fortunately for me, the staff people who I’d known took an interest in me,” Dahlin recalled.

“I could have gone off in a different direction. Someone gave me an injection of the YMCA and it changed my life.”

Dahlin spent the next 47 years with the YMCA, a career path that took him from part-time gymnastics coach and summer camp counselor to executive director of nine YMCAs throughout the city and suburbs to chief operating officer of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago.#147;During those five decades, he really made a personal commitment to the YMCA,#148; said Dick Malone, president and chief executive officer of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago.

#147;More than anybody else I can think of, Steve had a hand in making sure the plans of the Y were well-executed, and (that) so many people in our communities are getting the help they need.#148;

Dahlin, who retired last month at age 62, is a study in contrasts: A conservative-looking guy in a business suit who also rides a motorcycle and has a tattoo.

But it#146;s the YMCA#146;s familiar mind-body-spirit logo that he has inked under his skin, along with its motto #147;That they all may be one#148; #8212; John 17:21.

#147;He lives and breathes this place,#148; Malone said.

Five generations of Dahlin#146;s family have been involved in the YMCA, starting with his grandfather, who attended a YMCA college in the 1920s before going to law school.

By far, though, the Y had the biggest impact on Dahlin.

The organization not only helped him turn his life around, but it helped pay for his college education and gave him his first full-time job. Later, as a single father, he lived next door to the Elmhurst Y, which he credits with helping him raise his three children.

#147;The Y essentially quasi-adopted my kids,#148; Dahlin said. And YMCA programs, such as after-school care, #147;made it possible for me to develop my career.#148;

What the Y has done for him, Dahlin says, he could never repay.

But he made it his life#146;s work to support the Y#146;s mission of strengthening families.

#147;We are intent on making sure we create a family experience,#148; Malone said, #147;and Steve has been instrumental in making sure this is a place where we deliver (on that) mission.#148;

Today, the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago has two dozen member Ys, five single-room occupancy centers, six low-income senior housing buildings, five residential camps in three states and 19 child-care centers. More than 5,000 inner-city children attend YMCA after-school programs, and the Y has a vast youth sports program.

Despite the economy, #147;we#146;re doing terrific as an organization,#148; Dahlin said.

More than ever, families need a place like the YMCA to turn to for support, child care and low-cost family entertainment, he said. The Y gives $4.6 million in program and membership scholarships to families and individuals who otherwise couldn#146;t afford to participate.

#147;We made the commitment that anybody that lost their job would not be dropped,#148; he said.

The YMCA is a movement, not just an organization, always changing to meet the needs of families and communities, Dahlin said.

Leading the YMCA means periodically #147;pushing the reset button#148; to make sure the Y is on track for the future, he said.

Among the programs he#146;s proudest of is the Community Schools Program in eight Chicago Public Schools, which provides academic enrichment, fitness and health clinics. Sending children to camp is another cause that#146;s dear to his heart.

In honor of Dahlin#146;s retirement, friends and colleagues contributed $30,000 to a fund to send needy children to camp.

The day after his retirement, Dahlin set off with his brother, sister and sister-in-law on a cross-county motorcycle trip. Then he figured he#146;d take it easy for, well, not long.

#147;If I was a kid today, I would be diagnosed with ADD (attention deficit disorder),#148; Dahlin said. #147;I#146;m a can#146;t-sit-still kind of person.#148;

So he#146;ll be working out at the YMCA next door to his house, and also playing his regular racquetball games at the Y in Park Ridge. He expects to remain involved in the Y, probably sitting on one or two local boards.

#147;I feel so good about the direction of this organization,#148; Dahlin said. #147;I#146;m just so doggone proud of this place.#148;