SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY:

Man's participation in go!FIT leads to creation of health program for Hispanic teens

Amgel Lozado Angel Lozada, 41, a single father of three – Angel Gabriel, 18; Emily, 14 and Clarissa, 13 - joined the Downtown Y in early 2010 when he got an e-mail about the go!FIT program, a partnership with the Cleveland Clinic which provided residents of Cuyahoga County with free YMCA memberships for three months.

Lozada, a construction worker, was unemployed at the time.

“I said, ‘Why not?’ It’s free.”

After the three-month period ended, Lozada was hooked on the Y, but remained unemployed and couldn’t afford to pay for a monthly membership. Scholarship assistance was provided, and today he remains a frequent user of the Downtown Y.

“My favorite thing about coming is the old timers,” he said of the many longtime Downtown Y members. “They are the real attraction. You can’t get this network of people anywhere else in the city of Cleveland.”

Lozada said the scholarship forced him to “make a commitment to himself.”

“It makes me accountable,” he said. “It’s given me an awareness of living a more healthy lifestyle, and has taught me how I can get the best out of my body.”

Lozada favors the treadmill and the steamroom at the Downtown Y.

“The treadmill is the ice cream, and the steam room is the cherry on top,” he said.

Frequenting the Downtown Y has also resulted in a collaboration of sorts. Lozada is starting a program for Hispanic youth which he calls Yo Soy.

“Yo Soy is Spanish for I am,” he said. “I am accountable. I am my brother’s keeper. I don’t want kids to end up where I ended up – running the streets.”

The program, which also focuses on academic achievement, community service, character development, self commitment and spiritual growth, will use the Downtown Y Teen Center for its meetings.

It is already in place at three Cleveland Municipal School District buildings on the west side: Max Hayes, Lincoln West, and Cleveland Central Catholic High Schools.