Published October 2004

YMCA: a place to learn, laugh, grow
Group offers programs for all ages to meet communities’ needs

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

In Mukilteo, seniors “feel the burn” during Silver Sneakers circuit training. In Everett, teens flock to a tech center designed to help them with their studies, while preschoolers take their first paddle strokes in a nearby pool. And in Marysville, the scrapbook faithful congregate weekly to cut, paste and share their ideas along with their memories.

Across Snohomish County, people of all ages are forging bonds, improving skills and making memories at their local YMCA, an organization that has been serving the area for more than a century.

“A YMCA in a community serves as a community center. Its program offerings are intergenerational — from the cradle to the grave,” said Jerry Beavers, president and chief executive of the YMCA of Snohomish County.

	YMCA programs offer enjoyable activities for children of all ages. During the summer, preteens and teen-agers from the Y’s Southeast Family Branch practiced rock climbing (at left) at Cascade Crags in Everett as part of the Teen Xtreme program, and 3- and 4-year-olds socialized (above) during preschool at the Y’s Everett Family Branch. Snohomish County Business Journal/ KIMBERLY HILDEN

The nonprofit organization, incorporated in 1901, serves the community through six branch operations: in Everett, Marysville, Monroe, Mukilteo and southeast Everett as well as through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Snohomish County, which merged with the YMCA in 2001.

Last year alone, the YMCA served:

• More than 25,000 adults participating in wellness and fitness activities, including aerobics, swimming, basketball, yoga, martial arts and weight training.
• More than 9,000 teen-agers taking part in teen programs such as Earth Service Corps, Y Teen Nights, Connections, Youth in Government and various middle school offerings.
• More than 1,500 children attending YMCA day, resident and specialty camps during the summer.
• More than 4,600 children participating in youth sports, including swimming, basketball and “biddy ball.”
• More than 1,400 children attending YMCA-operated infant, preschool, toddler, kindergarten and before-and-after school child care at 33 sites in seven school districts, making the YMCA the largest child-care provider in the county.

It is through the YMCA’s branch structure that such programs are devised and facilities are enhanced to meet the specific needs of each community, Beavers said, noting that each branch has its own executive director and board of directors who have responsibility for local issues.

The overarching YMCA of Snohomish County, on the other hand, has a board of trustees that develops broad policies and strategic plans for the organization as a whole, he said.

“The benefit of the model is that any of the branches that you look at ... the board is really passionate about their community,” Beavers said.

That passion has resulted in an array of programs responding to societal needs, such as the Minority Achievers Program, which started in 2001 and is designed to mentor and motivate ethnic minority youths, Beavers said. Or the Armed Services YMCA program, which was formed in response to Naval Station Everett.

That passion also has resulted in YMCA branch facilities, from swimming pools and weight rooms to teen tech centers, and, at the Mukilteo YMCA, a 19,000-square-foot skate park due to open this fall and funded in part through the city of Mukilteo.

“Mukilteo (YMCA) is very much looking forward to expanding their facility to include more family space and a larger teen area. With the skate park, it’s a natural thing to have an enhanced teen center,” Beavers said, noting that a key strategic goal for the YMCA of Snohomish County is to serve one in four teens by 2005.

With an operating budget of more than $13 million, the YMCA receives funding through a combination of membership fees, grants, a contribution from the United Way, investment income as well as donations from the public through the group’s annual Invest in Youth fund-raising campaign.

“This year we raised just shy of $1 million,” Beavers said, adding that the community “has stepped forward at almost every opportunity to support us.”

The YMCA, in turn, supports the community through financial assistance for low-income members as well as subsidized programs that are offered free or at low cost.

“In 2003, we gave over $1.1 million in direct dollars in financial assistance; we gave $1.5 million for subsidized programs,” he said, noting that many of the teen programs fall under the subsidized category. “Out of a $13 million budget, about $2.6 million was given back to the community.”

During the recent down economy, the YMCA allowed for a free extension of membership to members who had been laid off, Beavers said, “so earned revenue has decreased in the last 18 months while the number of people we serve hasn’t.”

Looking to the future, the YMCA has plans to expand its presence in Monroe, where currently a number of YMCA programs operate, but without the benefit of a full facility.

Earlier this year, the YMCA acquired a 5.25-acre site on Fryelands Boulevard in Monroe for just such a facility. Following a feasibility plan and a local fund-raising campaign, construction on the proposed 40,000- to 50,000-square-foot YMCA branch could begin as early as 2006, according to the nonprofit agency.

Elsewhere in the county, the YMCA has been approached by the Stanwood community about possible expansion, Beavers said, noting that the YMCA has been holding teen nights at one of the local schools, where teens “come in, eat food, enjoy fun activities and have adults to relate with.”

It is all part of the organization’s mission of “building strong kids, strong families, strong communities” — no easy task in an age dominated by hectic schedules that infringe on quality, face-to-face communication.

“Today, we have to work at building community,” Beavers said. “We’re a high-tech society, but we have to work at being higher touch.”

For more information, contact the YMCA of Snohomish County at 425-258-9211 or online at www.ymca-snoco.org.

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