(Walpole, Bellows Falls, Brattleboro, Springfield/November 22, 2013) – The Board of Directors of Meeting Waters YMCA is launching its annual Community Support Campaign to ensure that everyone in the Brattleboro, Bellows Falls, Springfield and Fall Mountain regions has access to vital community programs and resources that support youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.

Every day, Meeting Waters YMCA works to support the youth, adults, families and communities that need it most by addressing community issues such as the achievement gap, chronic diseases, summer learning loss, and food insecurity.

“As part of our year-long strategic planning process, we have been meeting with people throughout our vast service area,” according to Board President, Dr. Vernon Temple. “On our ‘listening tour’ it became very clear that when most people think of ‘The Y,’ they think of a facility with programs inside its walls. That’s not what we are! We are a ‘Y Without Walls’ that makes its impact out in more than two-dozen communities up and down the Valley. So, part of our outreach is simply to educate people about who we are and what we do to live our cause of strengthening the foundations of community.”

According to Executive Director Steve Fortier, “Every day, year-round, Meeting Waters YMCA’s lives its cause by weaving together our three areas of focus—youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. For example, in the past year, we provided out-of-school care for 376 youth and their working parents through one or more of our youth development programs.”

“While that number makes us the largest provider of child care in the region, even greater impacts lie behind those numbers,” Fortier adds. “While mom and dad are working, all those young people are developing vital skills to help them learn, grow and thrive. Our caring and highly-qualified staff lead activities that build community, self-esteem, relationships and character. They model and support healthy lifestyles. They build skills, memories and friendships for life.”

“Then there are the impacts for the parents, businesses and communities throughout our service area. By providing care after-school for all 180 days of school as well as full-day care on all teacher in-service days, school vacations, snow days, during the summer break and even on most holidays, we are helping hundreds of area parents to work full-time. This, in turn, lets them contribute to—and participate in—the local economy. Over 50% of all the youth we serve are living in poverty or on the edge of poverty. By supporting their parents’ ability to work, we are helping these families meet their basic needs of food, shelter and clothing which contributes to decreasing the need for them to depend on other community and state agencies to do that for them. We are not a homeless shelter or food pantry, yet we prevent and reduce food insecurity, poverty and homelessness,” Fortier says with pride.

Temple concludes by saying, “We are taking the lead on some of the most pressing issues being faced by our communities, businesses, families and youth. We are working collaboratively with others to address complex community and family challenges. While working with many of our region’s most vulnerable youth and their families, we are not only supporting their basic human needs but also giving them the tools and resources to reach their full potential. To do this—and more—we need the strong support of the communities we serve. We thank people in advance for that support.”

Meeting Waters YMCA is a charitable, non-profit, social service organization founded in 1895. Its services strengthen community through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility throughout the Brattleboro, Bellows Falls, Springfield and Fall Mountain regions. To learn more about their services or how to make a donation, visit them at http://www.meetingwatersymca.org or contact them at 802-246-1036 (Brattleboro region), 802-463-4769 (Great Falls region) or 802-885-8131 (Springfield region).