Staff Newsletter | Tuesday, February 8, 2022
“Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.” – Matthew 7:24-27
I recognize it is premature to declare we have turned the corner – something I have to intentionally resist doing – but last week’s receipt of a $1 million gift toward the Gordon Family Y’s playfields project was monumental. At the very least, the gift was a huge shot in the arm for our Y, and on the heels of the extremely successful January member acquisition campaign, it certainly felt like “ol’ Mo” (momentum) was joining our team. When the pandemic first struck and we were forced to close our centers, all of the efforts to advance our capital projects also came to a screeching halt. Because the land for the Gordon project had been deeded to us by the City of Sumner, there was an expectation that we complete the project by the end of 2023 (however, the City has been very understanding about the impact the pandemic has had on our Y). Receiving $1 million allows Loren Johnson to work with the construction and design teams to create and build a plan to break ground sooner rather than later. There should be a lot of smiles around the room when we meet with the City of Sumner to share the news later this week.
Maybe the $1 million gift does not immediately change the course of our Y, but it is a significant step in support of one of our strategic initiatives: outdoor activities. When we first reopened our centers back in September 2020, our teams valiantly jumped into action erecting outdoor options under “the big tent.” We heard from our members that they were very appreciative to have this option, feeling more comfortable exercising in the fresh air. Later this month, Scott Smith and the marketing team will be testing our hypothesis to determine if members at our Mel Korum center, both active and non-active, would view the Mel Korum sports park as an appealing place to exercise. Scott is preparing a member survey to determine whether the sports park would be a great option for our members and possibly attract new members into our Y. In 2021, we hired an architect to create a design for a facelift of the sports park, and we are prepared to present the design to our board of directors if the survey results come back positive. Building the Gordon Y’s playfields and restoring the Mel Korum Y’s sports park gives us a strong start to offering outdoor activities to our members. We are also getting very close to starting the campaign to raise funds to develop the Gig Harbor sports complex as well. This would give us three significant outdoor areas for our Y and presumably help us build the foundation to create additional options at our other centers, producing a boon in membership and growing our Y. As Kyle Eggenberger said, “This gives us a competitive advantage; no one else is offering covered outdoor activities.”
Prior to COVID, the strength of our overall operations allowed our Y to use its own resources to supplement the contributed funds to complete capital projects. (In addition to utilizing our own reserves for larger projects, such as the Gordon Y, Haselwood Y, and Tom Taylor Y projects, our association has borrowed money from banks to complete the construction.) With the disruption to our operations, our internal funding has not been available; this disruption forced us to pause on moving forward with the Names Family Y project. Initially, we were relying on a significant portion of funding to come from our own reserves in order to complete the project. Last week, a group of staff and volunteers met to begin discussions to revitalize our plans to build the Names Y. Jessie Palmer and the financial development team have reenergized the fundraising efforts, but there is a recognition that we will need to have our own economic engine strong again to support the effort. There is an understanding that a new Y is very much a part of the plan to strengthen our economic engine, and we believe there will be strong, renewed community interest to be part of a new Y.
For the past year, we have been working with the City of Bremerton to understand our future relationship with the City and our management of the pool. We realize the City-owned pool building is over 40 years old and will require significant investment for sustainability; the current negotiations are to determine how much the City is willing to invest into that building. The Y has been a part of Bremerton for over 100 years and we are determined to remain a vital part of that community. We believe there is strong support for a Y in Bremerton, and we have begun testing the community’s desire to build a new Y in a new location.
Last week, Holly Tedford, Stephanie Roberts, and I attended a meeting with the Step by Step organization in Puyallup. We have entered into a partnership to operate a new early learning center, designed to serve 200 children. The new center is expected to be open for operation in 2024. In addition, we will be meeting with Senator Murray’s team to learn if we will be awarded a grant to help us build a new early learning center on the Mel Korum campus, which would replace the two mobile units and expand the capacity from the current 37 children to 140. Finally, Jessie and I have been working with a group looking to build a new church across the street from the Tom Taylor Y – they want us to operate a new early learning center, which will be located in that church facility. This past January 19 marked the one-year anniversary of opening the early learning center we operate in University Place, serving 135 children. It was a new venture for our association, which has been very successful and has opened up new opportunities that help us address an important need in the community.
With each of these projects, there is a tremendous amount of excitement and potential to energize our Y. These efforts will strengthen our membership model. As of January 31, membership in our centers has grown to 59% of pre-COVID numbers. Scott messaged me on Friday that February’s “Refer a Friend” campaign has already produced a net of 264 new members as of February 4. At the same time, we will continue to develop programming for the virtual Y as well as our school partnerships. We have made significant progress in each of these areas, and each will continue to play a vital role in strengthening our Y. I may not declare that we have turned the corner quite yet, but the work you are doing continues to elevate our Y, taking us one step closer to being even stronger than we once were. Your continued dedication has made the difference. I remain in awe of your devotion to serving people and our Y. Thank you.
#OneY #StayStrong #StayWithUs