Dear Members,
I hope that this update finds you and your loved ones healthy and safe.
I wanted to let you know what’s been happening behind the scenes at the YMCA since closing our doors on Monday, March 16th. As you may have heard, we furloughed our part-time & full-time staff effective immediately upon closing. All of our offsite childcare centers, adult day care, and other programming, with the exception of Atlantic Health System’s Children’s Corner Childcare Center, were closed. We applied to NJ State to keep Children’s Corner open, in order to provide care for essential employees’ children. We received approval and have been operating continually with no cessation of service.
At our YMCA facility we:
- Froze membership draws as it did not feel right to charge for services that we could not provide
- Decided to extend memberships based on individual expiration dates
- Deep cleaned the entire facility
- Acquired appropriate supplies to aid the personal safety of our members and employees
- Took advantage of being closed to replace the steam room and repave the parking lot, resulting in no imposition on the membership and significant cost savings
- Have continued to prepare for your return as you will see in the short video below
We are happy to report that we will not have to shut down the facility in August as we normally do every year and are ready to reopen when we are given the go-ahead which we hope will be soon. Every day more and more things are opening, such as the Richard F. Blake Children’s Center, which we are thrilled to announce will reopen on Monday, June 15th. We are also gearing up for our summer camp season, starting July 6th. As is the case with the YMCA, we will be following all CDC recommended guidelines for childcare and camp.
We are excited to welcome you back when you feel comfortable enough to return. This has no doubt been a trying time for everyone; mentally, physically, and emotionally, and we know many of you look to the Y for peace of mind, a good workout, and to see your Y friends once again. We can’t tell you how much we have missed you!
Lastly, thank you so much for your support. We hope to come back stronger and better than ever!
Wishing you continued health. We hope to see you soon!
Carol Armour
President & CEO
