“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” – 2 Timothy 4-7
For the past month or so, Kris Jensen (Executive Assistant and Board Liaison), among her many other responsibilities, carved out time to coordinate a massive effort to remove all the furniture and supplies from the advancement center so we could step away from the lease, which expired January 31, 2021. Over the past 11 months, Toko Thompson (Vice President and Chief Financial Officer) has been renegotiating and consolidating contracts, seizing any opportunity to reduce expenses; in the case of the advancement center, we will save about $7,000/month. In order to meet the deadline, a tremendous amount of work had to be done, and Kris led a task force, which included:
- Andrew Homan (Network Administrator)
- Bruce Caudill (Vice President and Chief Information Officer)
- Ed Bressette (Association Facilities Director)
- Loren Johnson (Property Management and Facility Development Director)
- MoMo Pulliam (Training Specialist)
- Shannon Costanti (Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer)
- Toko
Of course, each of them were already immersed in other projects, such as Andrew responding to IT demands throughout our association, MoMo deep in all things learning and development, and Ed and Loren supporting facility projects throughout our association, most recently working with Tara Harkness (Executive Director, YMCA Child Care) and her team to complete the early learning center project. Nonetheless, they all leaned in to decommission the advancement center by the due date.
In the case of the early learning center, we discovered how much more work was involved as we progressed. It did require more time and money as we proceeded, but we still believe it to be a worthwhile investment, with current enrollment exceeding expectations to date. In addition to the current investment, the center will serve as a case study for our association in the arena of early learning education. We believe this is a good space for our Y to be.
I also wanted to give a special shout out to MoMo. She was recently selected to serve in the new national service delivery model, assisting Ys in the area of leadership development. This is an acknowledgment of MoMo’s unique abilities to work with Y teams. MoMo will be one of a team, who are deployed on a need basis; she will continue to serve our team in learning and development. Congratulations, MoMo, we celebrate your acknowledgment – it is well deserved.
In a meeting last week, I solicited input from the leadership cabinet with respect to our staff team and the significant amount of work everyone, throughout our association, is doing to advance our organization forward. For 323 days, our Y has been steadfast in its desire to find ways to fulfill our mission as well as understand the importance of reimagining ourselves for what lies ahead. I cannot say enough about how remarkably our team has performed, but I recognize the weight of the effort and how long we have been “charging the hill” (in the words of Brian Flattum, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer). To my question, Michelle LaRue (Director of Strategic Engagement and Marketing) made the comment that our Y is continuing to operate as a $75 million operation but with a budget less than half of what it once was. She reflected that her marketing team, as one example, is also less than half its former size, and yet the needs and expectations of our Y are just as high. Michelle does a great job trying to clarify what we believe our priorities to be to keep us on track. This is particularly difficult for me, because I am constantly exploring new ways for us to evolve; there is a lot of uncertainty with what our world will be like, and we have to press forward to explore new ways for us to operate – and succeed – in the new world. I realize, though, we have to be very careful about what we say yes to; we only have a limited amount of resources.
This past week may have been our craziest one yet, a perfect storm, with critical major projects and efforts colliding at once. With the governor announcing on Thursday that Pierce County could enter phase 2, the operations team, once again, jumped into action to embrace the opportunity to serve more members. (Kitsap County will remain in phase 1 for now, so the Haselwood and Bremerton Family YMCAs will continue as currently operating.) It is truly amazing how well the operations team responds to the call. Stephanie Roberts (Senior Executive Director, Gordon Family YMCA) has taken the lead with her keen ability to dissect the often-ambiguous guidelines to provide us clarity. Moving to 25% capacity, as well as expanding the size of the groups we can serve, does open up some opportunities, but the coordination with staff and members is colossal.
As the operations team was mobilizing for phase 2, Bruce, Ron Johnson (Management Information Systems Director), Francisco Rivera (Systems Engineer), and Tiffany Stewart-Harris (Business Analyst) were leading a fierce charge to raise the curtain for our new membership software – Salesforce/Traction Rec. Bruce and his team have been immersed for an entire year, building up to this moment. As is always the case with such a huge transition, anxieties rise the closer we get to the “go-live” date. This is as complex a project as can be, with the entire association lifting to ensure all the parts are connected. For months, MoMo has been working with a contractor in South Africa to coordinate creation of online trainings to prepare staff. Toko and the finance team have been working extremely hard to ensure the finance software is integrated, and that our accounting and billing systems run perfectly. I have seen our Y go through a number of these transitions in the past, but this was clearly the most complex, and over the shortest timeframe, and, oh, the only one done during a pandemic and conducted completely remote. (To quote Brian again, “Holy shmolly, can it get any more challenging?”)
Just for good measure, Jessie Palmer (Senior Association Development Director) is leading our Y in our capital ventures. Currently, we are engaged with three city governments (Gig Harbor, Sumner, and Bremerton) to negotiate the terms for outdoor spaces at the Tom Taylor and Gordon Family YMCAs, and the City-owned pool in Bremerton. (We manage the pool, and we are currently negotiating the repair of the roof.) We are also engaged in discussions with CHI Franciscan (now St. Michael’s) to determine how we want to proceed with the space in our Haselwood Y dedicated for our medical provider. Shannon is leading an effort to understand what we may want to do – we receive money from the lease of that space, but it is vital space to us as well. These are all very important considerations that will benefit the long-term success of each of our community centers, and our association; it is important for us to stay at the table, though, in the case of the Tom Taylor Y, it may not be feasible for us to do complete the project in the short term.
Yes, not too long ago, we were a $75 million organization. Not only would we have been managing all these challenges effortlessly, but we would also be looking ahead for new opportunities. (Did I just say effortlessly?) I do recognize the circumstances and the strain we are under, and I take that very seriously. We are being forced to live in a dichotomous state – the present, which is governed by restrictive safety guidelines, and the uncertain future, which requires us to explore and reinvent ourselves. This is extremely challenging, but, in my opinion, to survive and evolve, we need to push ourselves. I do have an unwavering faith that we will come out of this and be positioned to excel in the new world we will enter. I also know I am leaning hard on all of you. I never take any of you for granted; you are giving everything you have to give. Thank you all – you are warriors for the Y and our community. God bless you.
#StayStrong #StayWithUs