As you may know, we recently conducted surveys of our members and the parents of children in our early childhood programs. We wanted to better understand both what expectations and concerns people had related to the reopening of our Family Center Ys and early childhood programs and how people are feeling in general about their own health and financial security. The response was tremendous, with over 9,000 respondents. In my mind, that level of response underscores that our community is deeply vested in the Y and quite eager to see us resume services. What we saw was that people are clearly prepared for the inevitable shifts in operations which will be required to keep people safe and remain highly aligned with the Y's mission and values.
All this is deeply reassuring, gratifying and humbling. It also confers on us a significant responsibility which we are prepared to accept. We can't predict at this juncture when Y programs and services will resume (and it now appears as though our region’s county executives and mayor may depart from the Governor’s direction, so stay tuned!), but we can say with assurance that Y associates are working diligently to prepare for responsible program and facility openings, with the safety of our members, participants, volunteers and associates as priority one.
All of these preparations are taking place while we continue to carry out critically important crisis work like emergency child care, food distribution and outreach to our community’s most vulnerable individuals and families. However, Y associates are no strangers to hard work or to wearing many hats and I have complete confidence that we will be fully ready to open when that time comes.
We've heard from countless people about how badly they miss the Y and how important it is to their individual and family well-being. We recently received an email from a mom putting the urgency and necessity of the Y reopening in very clear terms. She writes:
"Thank you for this. I just did the survey. I very much hope the Y can find a way to safely reopen as I am a single mom and I’m holding on to a job. If I don’t get my kids back into somewhat regular childcare/summer camp in the coming months I will be losing my job.
I very much miss the Y and hope it will find a way to open safely soon even if in some staggered manner.
Please pass along to the CEO. And thank you so much for your consideration!"
To this mom and everyone who is ready for the Y to reopen, I assure you we are just as eager and are deeply grateful to your loyalty and patience as we continue to weather this storm together.
All the best,
John
John K. Hoey
President & CEO
The Y in Central Maryland