Community Fitness Today was founded by the late Dwight Henry McWilliams.
McWilliams was a certified fitness instructor through the American Council on
Exercise (ACE), and The National Dance Exercise Instructor Training Association (NDEITA).
He worked for the Minneapolis YWCA as Assistant Director of Health and Fitness from 1987-1992.
He observed the lack of people of color exercising and this concerned Mr. McWilliams because
he believed that if you do not take care of yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually your life
can be more stressful and complicated. McWilliams decided to start Community Fitness Today
to address the needs of the minority community and to help educate community members about
health and fitness issues.
Mr. McWilliams’ mother was diabetic and eventually died because of the disease. It was a
long and painful process watching his mother die. Unfortunately, her death was unnecessary
if she had been more educated about how to properly take care of herself. McWilliams decided
that if individuals were properly educated, especially in communities of color where messages
about health have traditionally not been received, health disparities among people of color would be less.
