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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

Low income families losing their YMCA subsidies

YMCA's Y for All fundraising campaign has run out of money to provide financial assistance to families.

Safiah Alhasan brings her children to the Monroe County YMCA three times a week. It’s the family’s routine. She drops off her 2-year-old, Sham, at the playground with the babysitters. Her 4-year-old, Nour, heads off to the YMCA’s preschool.

She can’t afford to put Nour through preschool anywhere else in town. But she can afford to enroll Nour in preschool every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the YMCA because it subsidizes her membership fees.

“This is the only chance I have,” Safiah said.

The YMCA has been providing financial assistance since its doors opened in 1981, said Sara Herold, marketing and membership director at the YMCA.

But recently, the Y For All fundraising campaign has run out of money to help families like the Alhasans. The funds are depleted, leaving a waitlist of about 250 low-income members. Many members have stopped coming to the Y because they can’t afford it without subsidy. Some have chosen to put their names on the waitlist while others have chosen to move to other gyms.

The news came around the beginning of March. Guadalupe Lopez, an employee at the YMCA, said he and other employees received an email informing them the funds for the program had run out.

The subsidies are entirely based on donations. Last year the YMCA subsidized $250,000 for memberships and programs, but YMCA Development Director Heather Gustafson said an increase in demand caused the funds to run dry. Ever since the northwest branch opened in November 2013, the need for subsidies has risen while the supply of donations has remained stagnant.

Lopez said he was heartbroken. As a group exercise instructor and wellness coach, he’s come to know many of the members, especially the regulars. He’s learned things about their families and their personal lives, he said. He’s become part of their lives.

Since the news about the depleted funds, Lopez guessed he hasn’t seen 15 or so families or individuals visit the YMCA. He isn’t sure whether it’s because of money, but he said he wonders if any of the 15 have stopped coming into the YMCA because they can no longer afford it — and he worries.

His fellow employees worry, too. They’ve been brainstorming ways to raise more funds, Lopez said. Someone suggested putting a can at the front desk to collect loose change. Lopez proposed auctioning off personal training sessions and directing proceeds to Y For All. He already donates $25 a month to the fund, he said, and almost every employee donates, too.

“I seriously hope soon someone thinks of something to bring stuff in,” he said.

Lopez said he feels not only worry but confusion and embarrassment. The YMCA hasn’t been able to raise enough awareness about the issue to bring in sufficient funding.

“How could all those funds be depleted?” Lopez said.

Lehua Aplaca, financial assistance specialist, said she really has no concept of how close the program is to being able to deal out scholarship aid again. Two months after the funding was halted, it still remains at a standstill, as far as the low-income members are concerned.

Aplaca said in order to be granted financial aid, a member must go through a sit-down interview to determine financial need. If the member is approved, their membership lasts a year. But each quarter of the year, members need to check in to ensure their financial need still merits scholarship.

Priority on the waitlist is given to those whose financial aid had been approved for a year but is currently paused because of the lack of funds. Then it’s first-come, first-served.

Safiah began receiving financial assistance in January. She said she still hasn’t had her quarterly check-up. She comes to the YMCA regularly and off drops her kids and gets time to herself. Sometimes she takes an exercise class during the hour she has alone. Other days she’ll run on the treadmill or bike. Then maybe she’ll take Sham swimming while Nour finishes up at preschool.

She likes the time to herself, she said. It’s healthy to work her muscles and have some time alone. Sometimes she goes with friends from her neighborhood. She’s even made friends in some of her exercise classes.

Her kids love the Y, too. Sham has learned to swim “like a fish,” and Nour loves the preschool; every day, Safiah said Nour asks to go, saying, “Mommy, I want to go to ABCD!”

It’s something that’s easy — something the whole family can enjoy at low cost.

“Outside the Y, it’s hard for me,” Safiah said.

She wasn’t informed her funds will be cut off — or maybe she misunderstood, Aplaca said. Soon, she might be out of luck.

For now, the employees will continue to try to attract donors. If the YMCA was able to distribute scholarships again, it would lift a weight off of many employees, like Gustafson.

“It physically hurts,” Gustafson said. “We want more than anything to provide an equal opportunity to all the community to be healthy.

“It has weighed heavily on each and every one of us.”

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