‘We are the place for families’

‘We are the place for families’

I simply can’t believe it has been one year since we opened our newest YMCA branch in Monroe.

When I first met people in the greater Monroe area, they all seemed so excited about the possibility of having a YMCA in their community. I asked them why they wanted a YMCA. The answers were:

We want a place for our teens to go, to play sports and stay active.

We want a place for affordable youth sports for younger children.

We want a place where families can recreate together or participate in programs independently.

We want a “community place.” In retrospect, the one thing we did really well was listen and design programs to respond to those requests.

While we struggled with community support of our capital campaign to finance the building of SOFY, we certainly were incredibly blessed and successful with the response to joining and supporting the YMCA presence in Monroe.

We need to celebrate the fact that each Saturday evening we have more than 120 teens in our”Beat the Streets” program, more than 300 children in a broad variety of youth programs, more than 100 youth every evening in our youth center or in the gym, literally hundreds of adults and teens participating in numerous group fitness classes, young people on our climbing wall, dozens of active older adults working out, and last but not least, more than 150 people in each of our family nights the last Saturday of the month.

Community meetings take place each week. Chamber of Commerce events happen at the Y. And local temples and churches are beginning to utilize their Y for youth gatherings.

The Y has wonderful economic impact on the immediate area, employing nearly 80 committed, caring staff and generating more than one million dollars back into the local community. We are an active partner with the Monroe-Woodbury School District, numerous not-for-profit agencies and many local businesses.

This branch of the YMCA of Middletown has almost 7,000 individual members, with 85 percent of those joining as a family. We are “the place for families.”

We just recently began our first annual Strong Kids Campaign which raises dollars to provide financial assistance to anyone who wishes to join the Y but cannot afford it. And believe me, as the economy has struggled, there are many families who can benefit from the services of the YMCA.

We are not perfect, but we are learning from our mistakes and our growing pains and will continue to improve and find creative ways to improve the quality of life for thousands of families in the region.

When asked “What is the branch in Monroe like?” I simply say you have to visit it to understand it. It is simply a magical place.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Middletown, we are proud of the work of Ross Miceli, Michelle Bernieri, Jimmy Madison and all the SOFY staff and look forward to many, many years of service.

Ira Besdansky, CEO YMCA of Middletown