by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
An eagerness to embrace neighborhoods, particularly the children who live in them, is what sets the YMCA apart from other child care centers and gyms.
“We don’t turn people away,” said Teresa Rogers, a Y senior vice president whose office is in the Yates Family YMCA on Riverside Avenue. “Everybody pays something, but we use a sliding scale based on their income.”
She nodded in the direction of several regulars seated out in the lobby.
“Each of those people give money back to the Y over and above the monthly dues that they pay because there are other people who come through our doors that couldn’t afford it,” Rogers added. “If they need help — for child care or youth programs, basketball or membership for a family — they get it.
“That’s what makes us different. We’re accessible to anyone who wants to use this.”
Other programs also set the Y apart. Maintaining thriving, expanding locations means fund-raisers, and most of that money goes for children’s programs, said Rogers.
“We do inner-city work over in Springfield in a partnership with New Life Community Church,” she said. “Summer camp and after-school care over there are free.
“There are a lot of things we do that people don’t always know about that make us different.”
Rogers had joined the YMCA in Albany, Ga., as a member and has been employed by the organization for 14 years. She was the associate director at the Winston Family Y in Ponte Vedra Beach for two and a half years before moving to the Yates location nearly three years ago.
She is primarily responsible for overseeing the programs and personnel at the Yates site, the Winston Y and at the “corporate extensions”: the Southside Bank of America building, two CSX offices and the Blue Cross Blue Shield building.
Access to those corporate sites is restricted to those who work in the building.
The Winston YMCA has a branch director who handles the day-to-day operations there. The Yates building may acquire a branch director, too. But, for now, that is Rogers’ responsibility.
Membership continues to climb at the YMCA, which has 46,000 members spread across 30 locations in five counties — Duval, St. Johns, Clay, Nassau and Baker. Not even all the activity outside the Yates site, to widen Riverside and extend the Riverwalk, has slowed the activities inside the building.
“The City has been tremendous about letting us know what they’re doing and when,” said Rogers. “I get e-mails saying where the road closures are and what’s going on over the weekend so we can tell our members.
“It hasn’t affected our business at all. The City’s been really, really good to work with.”
The Y isn’t setting up new programs this year. Much of the emphasis is on expanding the programs that are already in place and getting ready to kick off summer day camp.
Rogers couldn’t begin to estimate the number of children who will take part in this year’s camp. There are between 75 and 150 children at each of the 30 Y locations. And the number of participants can fluctuate each summer.
“We don’t have day camp at (the Yates YMCA), but we have it at Bethel Baptist Church this summer,” said Rogers. “We usually try to find an off-site location.
“We’re primarily adults here. Sometimes mixing 100 children with all the adults can be . . . painful.”
Some children are at the sites as early as 6:30 in the morning. Some are there until 6 in the evening.
The summer programs will pretty much be the same as those offered in the past — arts and crafts, physical activities, swimming and field trips. This year will be slightly different because of the additional emphasis begin placed on physical fitness.
“Not that we haven’t always done that,” said Rogers. “But because of the whole childhood obesity issue, we’re really putting more effort into it.”
In keeping with that goal, the Y has now taken all of the soft drinks out of all of its locations. Thirsty athletes may get water or isotonic drinks, such as Gatorade.
“We have a few sites left with snack machines, but those are next,” said Rogers. “We’re phasing that in.
“It was an interesting process when we did it. It was less of an issue than we, as managers, thought it would be. We did a full notice on it, and most of the members were fine.
“What we said was, when the children are having a pizza party, of course we’re going to allow them to have soft drinks. We’re just saying, when you’re working out at the Y, we’re going to limit it to healthy choices. That’s what we’re all about.”
The YMCA continues to put a lot of focus on membership, as the organization aims to keep on growing.
“Our CEO, Trigg Wilkes, has a philosophy that has always been he wants a Y where every kid in Jacksonville can ride their bike to it,” said Rogers. “We have a joke that says, he’s going to kill us, but we’re going to get there.
“We are going to die trying to see that dream.”