YMCA YMCAs of Cambridge & Kitchener-Waterloo HIGHLIGHTS OF THE REPORT TO OUR COMMUNITIES Family YMCAs A strength of the YMCA as a locally run organization is its ability to respond to the needs of the community. A great example is the Helping Hands program created in 2009 in response to the significant number of people in Waterloo Region laid off due to the recession. Helping Hands offered free two-month memberships at the A.R. Kaufman Family YMCA in Kitchener or the Chaplin Family YMCA in Cambridge to anyone whose job disappeared during the recession. While the Family YMCAs are working directly with affected companies and the Community Action Centre to identify participants eligible for the program, people can also apply directly. So far, 103 people have participated in Cambridge and another 47 in Kitchener. “The program was great!” said participant Nada Aburaneh. “I enjoyed it because it allowed me to be active while I was going through the frustrating process of finding a new job.” “The YMCA believes that good health in spirit, mind and body is critical for anyone to reach their full potential,” said Tom Abbott, VP of Health, Fitness and Recreation. “In difficult times, a YMCA membership can be particularly helpful. Physical activity reduces stress and improves energy level, mental attitude and a person’s sense of well being and self esteem. We believe this opportunity can help people through a tough time.” Helping Hands has been extended into 2010 as our region continues to adjust to new business realities and people living here continue to require the benefits of a YMCA membership to help them get a new start in life. Y Giving a Helping Hand The YMCAs of Cambridge & Kitchener-Waterloo are pleased to present highlights of our annual report to our communities. A PDF version of the complete Report to Our Communities including financial highlights and the 2009 Donor Report is available online. Hardcopies may also be requested at all YMCA program sites or by e-mailing [email protected].
Transcript
YMCA
Y M C A s o f C a m b r i d g e & K i t c h e n e r - W a t e r l o o
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE REPORT TO OUR COMMUNITIES
Family YMCAs
A strength of the YMCA as a locally run organization is its ability to respond to the needs of the community. A great example is the Helping Hands program created in 2009 in response to the significant number of people in Waterloo Region laid off due to the recession.
Helping Hands offered free two-month memberships at the A.R. Kaufman Family YMCA in Kitchener or the Chaplin Family YMCA in Cambridge to anyone whose job disappeared during the recession. While the Family YMCAs are working directly with affected companies and the Community Action Centre to identify participants eligible for the program, people can also apply directly. So far, 103 people have participated in Cambridge and another 47 in Kitchener.
“The program was great!” said participant Nada Aburaneh. “I enjoyed it because it allowed me to be active while I was going through the frustrating process of finding a new job.”
“The YMCA believes that good health in spirit, mind and body is critical for anyone to reach their full potential,” said Tom Abbott, VP of Health, Fitness and Recreation. “In difficult times, a YMCA membership can be
particularly helpful. Physical activity reduces stress and improves energy level, mental attitude and a person’s sense of well being and self esteem. We believe this opportunity can help people through a tough time.”
Helping Hands has been extended into 2010 as our region continues to adjust to new business realities and people living here continue to require the benefits of a YMCA membership to help them get a new start in life. Y
Giving a Helping Hand
The YMCAs of Cambridge & Kitchener-Waterloo are pleased to present highlights of our annual report to our communities.
A PDF version of the complete Report to Our Communities including financial highlights and the 2009 Donor Report is available online.
Hardcopies may also be requested at all YMCA program sites or by e-mailing [email protected].
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WHO WE SERVE63,366Participants in YMCA Programs and Services including
31,107 participants under 18
YMCA of Cambridge
2,746 people received
$485,488 in assistance
Kitchener-Waterloo YMCA
4,758 people received
$775,061 in assistance
Message to Our CommunitiesAfter completing the details of our collaborative approach, we entered 2009 knowing that many of our goals were within reach. Our strategic plan plotted an ambitious and exciting year of activity and expansion. We made great strides in our objective to do more by aiming to touch every family in the region through creating more opportunities for people to make the YMCA a part of their lives. For example:
• After years of planning, The Stork Family YMCA broke ground in west Waterloo so that families can be active together. It is scheduled to open in spring 2011.
• We took the YMCA philosophy of good health in spirit, mind and body to kids at St. Peter’s Catholic School in Cambridge by opening a Virtual YMCA there.
• We created new opportunities for 203 kids to connect with nature by starting a day camp at Shade’s Mills Conservation Area in partnership with the GRCA.
• Participation increased by 50% at our YMCA Early Years Centre in west Waterloo after we expanded programming available for families with children from birth to six years old.
Our collaborative approach also paid off when we successfully applied for federal and provincial infrastructure funds to:
• Expand and refurbish A.R. Kaufman Family YMCA ($1.2 million).
• Add cabins and a program pod made with straw bale construction
at the YMCA Outdoor Centre so that it can expand its year round residential programs for school groups ($293,000).
• Refurbish the Chaplin Family YMCA ($687,000).
These projects are all scheduled to be finished by early 2011.
Both YMCAs received generous gifts of land:• The Kiwanis Club of Kitchener-Waterloo gave 77 acres
on Paradise Lake near St. Clements to the Kitchener-Waterloo YMCA. The site is the home of YMCA Camp Ki-Wa-Y and the YMCA Outdoor Centre.
• The YMCA of Cambridge received land in Ayr on the shore of the Nith River across from Victoria Park. We are just beginning to explore how this generous gift will benefit the people of our communities.
On top of all this activity, the main YMCA Early Years Centre moved to a larger, more accessible location on Roger Street (near Weber and Union) in Waterloo.
In summary, 2009 was a busy year but 2010 promises to be busier still. By expanding our programs and reaching out to all members of our community we look forward to helping people of every age reach their goals in the coming years. Y
Sincerely,
Laurie Hornell Mike StorkChair, President, YMCA of Cambridge Kitchener-Waterloo YMCA
Our community strives to be one that demonstrates our collective commitment to ensuring all children reach their potential through healthy and secure families, and safe and supportive communities. Many organizations work independently and collaboratively to achieve this objective. But until recently, we did not know if we were succeeding or what we should concentrate on to do more.
As an Early Years Lead agency in Waterloo and the host agency of the Data Analysis and Literacy Specialists, the YMCA recognized the wealth of information available throughout our community could be used to create a report that would provide baseline information to begin to clarify the strengths and needs of our community and ultimately to measure our progress.
So in 2005 the YMCA collaborated with the Alliance for Children and Youth of Waterloo Region, the Region of Waterloo, the lead Early Years agencies in Kitchener and Cambridge and a long list of other organizations to produce a report entitled A Community Fit for Children.
The first report was really just a snapshot in time. Subsequent reports were required to identify statistically valid trends over time. In 2009, a second edition was released that began to compare data. Subsequent reports will help to complete the picture. The reports have been useful to better serve our communities. For example, they helped identify the sites of the Virtual YMCAs operating in Cambridge and Kitchener.
Christine Bird of the Alliance for Children and Youth reflected on the importance of the information being shared, “Whether it be directly or indirectly, all community organizations can play a role in supporting healthy child development—and we can be especially effective when we work together towards our goal of creating a community fit for all children.” Y
Promoting cultural diversity has been a major initiative of the YMCA of Cambridge over the last several years. Working in collaboration with the City of Cambridge and a wide-range of community stakeholders, the YMCA developed a three-year plan (2009-2011) to promote understanding and mutual respect for newcomers, immigrants and visible minorities.
Two major initiatives have already been active. In May 2009, the Ambassador Project trained 35 volunteers from various cultural communities as ambassadors to spread information about services available to them in the community and how to access them. There have also been two sessions of Step Up to Leadership—a program for community-minded immigrants wanting to make a difference and interested in taking a leadership role in the community. In particular, it aims to help prepare individuals from cultural groups that are under-represented on boards of community groups. After participating in the program, 17 people are now better equipped to take leadership roles.
Mario Zuluaga is a graduate of Step Up to Leadership. Even before the course, Mario and his parents helped Spanish speaking newcomers get settled and oriented in Cambridge. But his approach changed after the course. For example, he said “Before I treated everyone like friends. But with the course you understand that you can not treat everybody the same. You treat others as you want to be treated but it’s not like that. You have to treat people how they want to be treated.”
Another spin off from the course was Mario’s connection to the Bridges shelter which was seeing a large influx of Columbian newcomers. Mario’s knowledge of the language and Columbian culture enables him to welcome these newcomers in helpful ways. Y
Giving a Helping Hand Creating an Inclusive, Respectful and Engaged Community
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Many people in Waterloo Region are surprised to learn that the YMCA is a key player in helping immigrants become settled and oriented. Each year, it enriches our communities by quietly helping more than 10,000 newcomers. In many ways, our Cross Cultural & Immigrant Services (CCIS) reflects the unassuming yet extremely diligent leadership of Maria Alvarez.
A lot has changed since Masha Hall and Maria joined the Kitchener-Waterloo YMCA to run the Immigrant Settlement and Adaptation Program (ISAP) in 1987. By adding ISAP to the existing Host Program, the YMCA began to play an important role in helping our community grow by accessing the talents of people new to Canada and giving refugees fleeing their homelands a chance for a new start.
From modest beginnings and a staff of three, CCIS has grown to more than 60 staff at offices in both Cambridge and Kitchener. In addition to Host and ISAP, the programs in KW now include helping newcomers find employment or self-employment, assessing their language needs, working with kids in schools, matching them with volunteers for social support and mentoring internationally trained professionals.
There has also been growth in Cambridge. More settlement workers have been added and help is available to assist immigrants and refugees become integrated into the community. Both sites promote that “Your life in Canada starts here” because of the variety of help available under the same roof and staff knowledge about all of the other community and government services available to newcomers.
The catalyst for these changes was Maria Alvarez—a refugee from the Pinochet regime in Chile who has a knack for identifying needs in our community and seizing opportunities to meet them. Maria retired as General Manager at the end of 2009 but her legacy of helping others lives on in a welcoming community that recognizes the strength we gain through diversity. Y
