 Hello and welcome to this month's installment of Why Connection and I always like to start by thanking CCTV channel 17 for this opportunity for the Greater Burlington YMCA to connect with you, members of the community, to share what's going on at our organization and this month spend a little time talking about how did our organization get to where we are today. We've entitled this program changing to meet community needs and we are certainly an organization that has changed over our 153-year history and we are going to also as we conclude the program as I've liked to do the last few months talk about what we're expecting in our new facility which is moving along on track for an early 2020 opening. But today to help us with some of the more recent history is a colleague of mine and there's I've been excited to have you Marsha Furuniarz on our program you're a senior vice president here at the YMCA there's no one that I work with who brings greater passion for their work at the Y and does that with great compassion and dedication but you are a marvelous person to talk to about some of the more recent changes over the last couple of decades because you've been with the Y for a little while. I have and I'm pleased to be here to talk about the Y certainly I'm passionate about the Y and all that we do. So when did you start at the Y and how did you get started with us? So in 1982 I graduated from UBM and I knew that I wanted to work with youth children and there was my roommate said hey did you know the Y is hiring for a preschool summer program called Kinder Camp. So that sounded wonderful to me and so I went down to the Y and interviewed and got the job and it was a part-time job so I had a couple other jobs too to pay the rent but fall came and they offered me kind of more hours working in the front office and working in the after-school program and I said you know hmm oh maybe this is something I could stay at for a couple years and here I am 37 years later. 37 years you've made a career of it. I have. I have. I think so yes. So over that time you've seen a little bit of change. I have seen a lot of change and I imagine certain things remain the same but certain things have changed. What do you see most significantly as the changes in recent decades for the Y? Yeah I mean the Y has always been a mission is a mission-based organization so and the heart of that mission is to meet community needs. So certainly as the needs of the community has changed the programming that we do at the Y has changed. So that looks significantly different not only in the offerings that we have but the as that need is increased the number of offerings that we have in in areas that we did back then and are doing now. And we'll touch base on a few of those coming up but I imagine there's also despite the fact that we've been around for 153 years and very little of what we did then. Yes. But there's got to be certain commonality and theme and what do you see is the same about our work today than 37 years ago when you started with us? I would say one of the things that's the same and one of the reasons I've been here 37 years and am so passionate about the Y is our core values the values that the Y has when it makes any decision that it makes about what program to offer, how we serve our members, how we work with families, how the expectations we have of members and program participants in our program and our staff and those core values which are honesty, caring, respect and responsibility have always been the backbone and sometimes much more intentionally than others but have always been there. And I know that you're always very good about bringing us back sometimes in a meeting if we are struggling over a tough issue like let's bring it back. Let's look at those how will our decision conform or fit where there can be influenced by caring, honesty, respect and responsibility. So I always appreciate and by myself more and more hearing your voice in my head as we're trying to look at an issue I'm like okay let me frame it in that way. It always proves very helpful. So some of the changes you've seen have been in the area of child care. Yeah. What that's looked like. What did early childhood care look like when you started in the 80s versus what we're doing today in 2019? Sure and that's probably one of the most significant changes that I've seen. When I came to the Y we had and this was really an anomaly two half day child care programs. There weren't many child care programs out there but we happened to run two preschool programs. They were half day and really it was for families who just wanted their their child to have an enrichment to either better prepare them for kindergarten. I think the fact that we offered swim lessons as part of the curriculum was a driving force. So really it was kind of a luxury to be able to put your child in this program for families. Not today though. No today is an absolute necessity. So it's it's you know we had the two half day programs and now we are in three counties with early child care programs serving infant toddlers in preschool and it is a necessity for families in order to be able to work and so we've seen a significant increase. Yeah I don't know that I'll recall the numbers specifically but let's grow kids it's been very vocal on this issue and I know one of the statistics they point to is somewhere in the 70 to 75 percent of households all adults in the household are in the workforce. Yes. So for a parent to be able to work. Yes. To pay for rent. Absolutely. For all the other costs of living. They need some place for the child to go and so there's just a practical aspect of it. Yes. That I think has changed very much over the years and that we're filling that need but we're not just filling that need by providing an opportunity for a place for them to be we want to be a high quality. Absolutely. I imagine there's been more and more focus on that over the years as well. Well there certainly has and rightfully so because children deserve you know nothing less than high quality child care and families and you know that comes with some challenges as you know we have always been when we went to full-time child care NACI accredited and that was the the one really standard other than licensing which back in the day really just addressed basic safety issues in child care programs. So NACI being a national accreditation set of the National Association of Education for Young Children. Correct. Yeah. I remember my child I think I've mentioned on this program before my son Ian who's now a college junior was a Y preschool. Yeah. Yeah. And that meant something to me. Yes. That Y programs were committed to quality. Absolutely. And that he would be in a very enriching environment. Yes. During those hours that he was with. And I think it's really important to have outside entities that have measurable standards for you to use to really determine your quality that you're not so insular and saying you know we're we think we do a really good job. We really have these standards we have to meet and since my when I began Vermont has also instituted the step ahead recognition system which is stars. One to five stars. So you know when that came out we immediately enrolled in that and all of our early childhood programs are five stars which is the highest rating. Right. And the most of our after school programs are four and five stars and if they're not it's only because they haven't been around enough you know long enough yet to get there but they're working their way. Absolutely. But I think it's really important to be able to say that we put the time and the resources that are necessary into ensuring that we are of high quality and it's not just because we said so. There's also a very practical result of a five star rating for the families we serve. Yes. We've also seen more and more the challenges family face family face with the cost of child care. That's not just that the why child care everywhere is not inexpensive. Right. And particularly with a high quality program and we are now serving a population where 54 percent of the early childhood families we serve receive state subsidy. Yeah. Why financial assistance or both. Yes. It's significant. And with the state subsidy the amount they receive is increased the higher the star rating. That's correct. Five star rating the families are seeing a greater financial support. Yes. So we're doing our part to ensure that all families can access our programs because they are receiving more money because we are five star and that's significant for families. Yeah. And other changes we've seen in the population. I think we're also serving increasingly some kids who have higher needs. Absolutely. Higher needs. Yeah. There's some social emotional issues and what not. And we're working very hard at times we've partnered with with Howard and get other supports to make sure that we are giving and delivering the best experience for every child. Yes. We are you know I will say that is a change that's very evident is just the children coming to us with greater emotional needs. So many more children coming with trauma based background. And so that is a challenge as we move forward to get the resources necessary to ensure that we're able to meet the needs of those children. But I'm very proud of the staff that we have and how hard they work and what they do to ensure that every child is successful as successful as can be in our programs. Again it's just another way in which we are working to make sure that the why high quality child care is accessible to all families. Yep. Absolutely. And this past year 2018 the why as a whole provided about four hundred and seventy thousand dollars worth of financial assistance across the board from swim lessons why memberships and people can stay healthy. But about two hundred thousand dollars of that was for early childhood care because it is such a high cost for families and the need is so great. Yes. It's a priority for us. It absolutely is. We do it with the generous support that we got from donors from grant folks who are delivering on grants corporate support. That's right. Individual donors provide families opportunity to be working knowing that their child is in a safe environment. Absolutely. That same applies to after school. Yes. After school has grown considerably. Yes. You were just mentioning to me what it looked like when you started. Yeah. When I started we had about 30 children who we would literally get in why vans and pick up at the various schools in the area and bring them to the why. And then at five thirty those children would get back in the vans and we would drop them off at their doorstep. That was the except for you know we had many days in the winter where we just weren't able to do that transportation because of the weather. But and then what happened is I think it was the mid nineteen eighties. Champlain College did a study that looked at the number of what they called latch key children which were the children going home with a key in their pocket to let them self in at when the school bus dropped them off and they were home alone until their parents came home. And it was very alarming the number of kids that were home alone. And additionally there was a national study and I can't quite remember who did the study. But it showed that children were more likely to do risk risky to attempt risky behaviors between the hours of three and six because they were home alone and their parents weren't there. So the why being the why and responding to community needs said we need to be doing more with kids after school and ensuring they have a safe supervised place to be. So we I believe our first two programs were with Milton and Essex and we started our first after school programs and that's growing today. It's now over sixteen. Absolutely. Sixteen locations across three counties. Yeah. And well north of five hundred kids absolutely were involved in school programs last year. And we've also changed those in more recent years to not only provide an opportunity for kids to have a healthy outlet for some place to be after school physical activity often there's homework time. Yes. We've added enrichment programs. They were as sort of an extended offering. That's right. Whether that's in dance or yes it's one of the STEM activities science technology engineering math a STEM related activity to make it those after school hours as enriching as possible. Absolutely. And I you know another big change is when we were doing after school programs when we first started there wasn't a whole lot of involvement on the part of the school. Now the school truly is a collaborative partner in how we look at what enrichments we offer what their needs are how can we help you know the same children they have during the school day be successful by what we're offering after school. So there's much more of a partnership with the schools. And I think we're talking about school knows out of school hours which certainly every day during the school year. But for working families. Yep. The summer also has considerable. Out of school hours all summer long. So why why summer camp programs. We've long had a boys overnight camp. Yeah. A hundred and fifteen year history. Yeah. Over a hundred years up in North Hero. And that's an overnight camp. But the after school programs many of our locations we convert to summer day camps correct. Sure. Yeah. Well we and we soon realized that parent anytime school is not open children need care if their parents are working full time. So we have our COTA which is our programs based in schools that serve kids throughout the summer. And that really is licensed child care. But it is a camp. And so we try to make it as much like the traditional summer camp as we can. Arts crafts games. Absolutely. Oh yeah. We realize this is this is their summer. Yeah. And it needs to feel like their summer. So we do a lot you know again a credit to the staff. A lot of really rich curriculum that ensures the kids feel like it's summer. And you touched on a point. But you know we think about it as sort of being expected from most wide programs. So we set a licensed program. Yes. And again the benefit of being a licensed summer day camp is that families who are eligible. That's right. Subsidy. That's right. And apply that. So financially it becomes much more feasible for them to roll again if a family cannot come up with resources the Y steps and helps whenever we can. Yes. But they can apply for receive state subsidies. Yeah. And we are one of the few programs that are licensed in the summer. I mean there are few and fewer. There's a lot of options for specialty camps in the summer for children. But when it comes to licensed programs for families who need childcare. The Y is one of the few options that are open. And again it's a high quality option for families. And the numbers similar to what we reference with early childhood with our camp Coda again those school locations that turn into summer day camps. About one in two. About half of our kids receive some financial assistance either through state subsidy Y assistance or both. So we're really filling a need there that we're very proud of. Yes. And for someone like myself to be honest who's back at the mothership 266 College Street. Yeah. And working on the administrative side. That's what really keeps me motivated is what I think about what we're accomplishing for families. Absolutely. Opening up opportunity for kids. And you really see our mission in action. I see the mission in action. And with the summer camps there's what people talk about in the business as the the summer slide. It may be counterintuitive from a physical but people kids can actually gain weight during the summer. Absolutely. If they're just inactive. Yeah. You know at home or something they can be more inactive. Yeah. There can be a bit of a slide in literacy. Oh sure. Slipping from their grade level reading. Yeah. How do we combat some of those summer slide issues. Well we're very intentional with what we offer children in the summer and and one of the reasons is to combat that. So there's literacy woven into our curriculum but in fun ways. And we bring in partners like the Cliff Children's Literacy Foundation. Exactly. We have done that in the past that work with our programs. A lot of focus on STEM activities which are so much fun for children if done correctly right. And so it's woven in you know if you said kid I don't think any child would ever go home and say I felt like I was at school today it would be how much fun they had but all of that is woven in. Yeah. And the physical activity is really important. Always has been a tenet of the why right. Physical activity. Absolutely. Yeah. That is one of the things that's been a bit of a constant. Yeah. Over the course of our history. Yeah. So we ensure in most of our summer programs there's somewhere the kids can go to to access swim. Yeah. And then they have gyms in which are much more available in the summer than in the school year. And we're serving a lot of kids. I know that Abnaki perhaps sees around six hundred. Yeah. Boys over the course of the summer. But Camp Coda. And a few other bookend camps and things that we offer. Again we're seeing five six hundred kids a summer at least. Oh yeah. That we're serving through those programs. Yeah. Changing direction a little bit here. Yeah. From all of our childcare programs fitness. Yes. Yes. Fitness is something that has changed at the why the current building that we're in and again we'll talk at the end about a new building opening at the beginning of the year. Yeah. But our current building was built in nineteen thirty four. Yes. And probably the only two parts of the facility that are being used today. Mm hmm. For what they were constructed for is our gymnasium. Yes. And one of our two pools. Yes. Now of a second pool. Yes. We call our program. Yes. And. But almost everything else about fitness has changed. Absolutely. In nineteen eighty two describe what what did our downstairs fitness opportunities look look like. Well we had a squash court and a racquetball court downstairs in the basement. Where we have all currently all of our weights and fitness machines. And then in the other area was a private club Burlington weightlifters club. And really they rented space from the Y. So it wasn't part of your membership. Right. To utilize that. So if you went downstairs you were playing racquetball or squash if you weren't going to the pool. Two people at a time. Exactly. A lot of space. But a limited audience. Yes. Although I will tell you when we made the decision to get rid of the squash and racquetball. Very vocal. I mean there are some people who are very passionate about it. But again it wasn't we weren't maximizing how we were serving. Most people. That's right. Correct. And with a with the weights and the weights have changed very much about the type of offerings and the cardio equipment. But again a private club was serving a limited number of people. So now as you said we've got lots of cardio equipment everything from step masters to spin bikes treadmills rowing machines a whole free weight room a whole room with what they call the selectorized machines where you can put the plates on and do whatever level you're comfortable with. So that's changed. Group exercise I imagine. So you know think of Jane Fonda Olivia Newton John you know let's get physical type of classes the aerobics that's what you saw the high Waller exactly with the headbands and the wristbands yeah so that's what it looked like. That's what it looked like there were a lot of aerobic what we called aerobic classes that happened in the gym and then over the years certainly have transformed now we are much more we think about wellness at you know the whole thing yoga thinking about wellness Tai Chi I feel like we've moved from just that getting your exercise cardio in to preventative classes that ensure that people are taking care of their health. What sort of preventative classes over the years have we offered. So the so the wide nationally yes like cancer survivors we had Livestrong we had the Diabetes Prevention Program. We had a stronger bones program. We still you know have all these enhanced fitness which really looked at the senior population and ensuring you know addressing balance and bone strength and I think that's something that's changed to the number of offerings that we have for for older adults active older adults. Yeah because when you think of that 1980s Jane Fonda fitness class. Oh yeah it's a very narrow band. Absolutely who you see that mental picture of younger people but now the classes and aquatics classes that we work in for arthritis swim arthritis is huge we have a lot of classes. Right so and then we have two or three different active older adult or senior classes in the gymnasium some of which involve having a chair. Yes we need to use for stability but ultimately the goal is to increase people feeling stable and comfortable absolutely with their balance and other issues yes and working on strength is no longer just about Charles Atlas building muscles yes but the strength that's going to give you the comfort level of remaining active. That's exactly again it's more a proactive approach to people in their help as they age. So I think we've developed again with that deeper understanding of what that means to do for fitness. Yeah and that also includes as we said aquatics. Yeah but we also are very much about the traditional aspects of aquatics. Yeah swim lessons. Yes has been a staple of the why since that pool always. Yeah 85 years ago and now I think we're serving between 800 and 1000 kids are going through why swim lessons a year. Yeah. Yeah. How do you think people view swim lessons today versus how they might have when you started. I think initially when I was at the Y and families were enrolling their children in swim lessons it was seen as just another skill to develop for their child right to be able to oh we're going here this summer and you know I'm going to bring my child to the Y and they can get in the pool and they can swim just kind of a skill enriching exactly. Exactly. But now it really is seen as a necessary life skill. I mean we live in a town with a lake right there and sadly we you know there have been a number of drownings and so people are realizing this is a life skill that everyone should have to be able to get in the water and be able to swim or get themselves somewhere safely. And the wise recognition of that includes the fact that we are certain that those that why scholarship that why financial assistance is certainly something that people can utilize for swim lessons. No child should be prevented from taking a swim lesson because of financial resources and we help a family do that. We've also expanded past traditional swim lessons which at the Y is a seven or eight week session and you may take you may be a Pike one and then graduate to a Pike two and you can take a few sessions until you feel that your child is comfortable swimming. We're moving a lot more into straight up water safety water safety classes. Yeah. And those almost all free. Absolutely. Right. Yeah. And very proud of that. Right. You know of our splash program working with the Integrated Arts Academy to bring children in. Right. They have a new American class. Yeah. Their step class. Yes. That now I think seven or eight years. Jess Lucas our director of aquatic now our director of aquatic has worked with them where she'll go into the classroom help with some of the basics of swim which I really love this because it's not intuitive at first but then when you think about it just for someone where English is a second language. Yes. When you're learning language. Yes. Shallow or deep or probably not the first list of words. No that's correct. So to start with some basic building blocks in the classroom and then those students come in to the pool for a week's worth of lessons forty five minute sessions. And that very then very much mimics what we do in the summer with camp splash. Yes. Three day. Yeah. Mini camp each day forty five minutes. And you don't necessarily refining. You know the butterfly. Oh yeah. Floating on your back. Yes. Learning to be comfortable and relaxing in order are starting points that we want someone who can then build off of that. Absolutely. And I know that you have gone down to see some of those programs in action and that just you can't help but smile when you see these children in the smile on their face and their exuberance and Jess and her staff to an incredible job. Yeah. And we are one of the things I'm most proud of is the way we're seeing growth in recent years. Absolutely. I think the numbers around three years ago were about a little more than a hundred. Around a hundred kids taking part in camp splash and a few kids from the IAA step class. Yes. Americans this year between step camp splash and some swim and water safety. Yes. We've partnered with Burlington Parks and Rec and the mayor. Yeah. We now serve two hundred and thirty five kids this summer in water safety. Didn't cost a dime for any of the kids now participating in some of the swim and water safety nights. The parents were getting in there too. They're getting in the water because yes and we focus a lot on those classes for low income and new American families and for some of the new American families the parents swimming wasn't part of their upbringing. Right. And so they realize the value of it and are enrolling their kids. Yes. They're getting in the pool too. Yeah. Which is really wonderful to see. It really is. I wanted to before we move on to our new building for comments briefly we've talked about how meaningful it's been for you to work at the Y. But what do you see about the Y as as an opportunity for someone whether it's part time or a career. The Y is a great place to work. It is a community and I don't say this lightly. A number of staff say the Y is like my second family who work there. You work with a great group of people who are all committed to working for a mission based organization. The impacts you make on a daily basis whether you're behind the desk and that senior comes in who you're the friendly face they see every day and look so forward to seeing to working in our child care programs to doing the important work of life guarding. There's so many opportunities. Full time part time. Our life guard staff is probably predominantly college absolutely life guard. Yes and for them it's great pick up a few shifts work eight hours a week. Yes. The Y. Yes. And the Y has wonderful benefits. For full time staff and there are some benefits for our part time staff. Certainly membership. Right. Before we talk about this wonderful new facility is a huge benefit. And it's just a great. You know most people when you walk through the Y dog I'm sure you can attest to this. People are generally upbeat and smiling. I mean it's a busy place. There's a lot going on. But it's a wonderful environment to be in. And so for some of the things we've mentioned it requires some training life guards obviously certified. Yeah. If you're going to be a you know a classroom teacher leading one of our preschool classes you've got licensing and requirements. But not all positions at the Y requires not at all prior training. Right. From our member service desk to being part time working in a summer camp. Yeah. And others. You can come to us with just a will and a desire to be part of something bigger. And we can find exactly. Well and also and I think you know specifically of our child care programs we will provide some of the training that you need to move professionally along. And that's a wonderful benefit as well. Yeah. Yeah. So in closing to talk about our new facility. Yes. This is extraordinarily exciting for all of us. But you among our staff have seen this in the works. The longest. A long time. Yeah. What does a new Y mean to you for how we can deliver on our mission. Oh it just and I think it enables us to do more. Right. And you know the current building that we're in and it's a wonderful old building but it has more you know hallways and staircases. So just the ability to do more programming to meet the community needs that we currently are meeting. Tell us if you would about the one specific need and we talked about early childhood. What are we doing to add on. What are we doing more. Yes. Early childhood. So statewide infant toddler care is just a real crisis. It's hard to find. And in this new facility we will have a whole child care wing and we will be adding 50 new infant toddler slots. That's game changing in the community. It absolutely is game changing. And the Y is stepping up and saying we're willing to do this because again back to our mission. It is a huge community need. And it drove a lot of those who have been very generous. Yes. In supporting our drive for a new building is as much as we are all always focused on improving health. Yeah. Wellness. But a lot of people were motivated by what we're doing in early childhood. Yeah. And that we are expanding for the community and delivering more and continue to deliver high quality care. Absolutely. For someone who's working out it'll be a very different experience. Oh absolutely. Yeah. You've been through the buildings of the construction. Yeah. We've been through it and and seen what it currently looks like. Be wonderful. And what are you what are you seeing when you walk into this space? Oh when I walk in I see the outside where I'm inside. Light filled spaces. You know light filled spaces just the size of this you know to be able to to be on a piece of exercise machine and be able to look outside and beautiful downtown Burlington. And it's it's it is going to be I think a game changer for you know I'm really excited for all the new members that will be receiving but also for our current members to go up to this new building with all the all of it's wonderful aspects. Yeah. Yeah. We are excited that a new building will have continued to have two pools. Yes. Very important a lab pool and a program pool. We can keep them at different temperatures. Lab swimmers exercising looking for cooler temperature. Our active older adults are young kids in swim lessons the warmth of the program pool really works well. For the first time we're going to have dedicated fitness studios for group exercise classes rather than yoga, Zumba and everything spin and everything in between being in a 1934 gymnasium. Yes. We're going to have three specialized studios delivering group exercise plus the gym. Right. We're still going to have a gym. So it's exciting. I think the other exciting piece I just wanted to talk about Doug was the track that will run around the whole perimeter of the Y as opposed to the one that's currently suspended above the gym right now. We started with touching on things that have changed but things that have remained the same. And I think one of the things that we know will remain the same is the heart and spirit. Absolutely. Behind it. Absolutely. Continue to deliver on our core values. Yeah. And again, we're still waiting to find out exactly what the more all of the more. I mean, we know there'll be more classes, more space all of that. But how we're going to continue to deliver for the community that more, that extra is we're still working on. We're going to see what the vision what will the community needs be and how we're going to deliver on them starting early. Yeah. And, you know, what's really wonderful and always the staff are always at the heart of what we do. And I think when we open that new building, there'll be a huge wow factor and it will be beautiful. And but I still think, you know, down the road 20 years when people think back to the Y, of course, build our beautiful facility, it'll still be about the people that work there. Yeah. And that they met the relationships. And yeah, I hope and know that people will continue like I do and my wife does about the experience and the great start to our son's life and Y preschool. Sure. That's the feeling. It's not the room. Right. The facility. It was the teachers, the heart and everything behind it. Yeah. Yeah. Marcia, thank you very much. Well, thank you. Thank you for everything that you have done in your 37 years with the Y. Thanks. And you've helped us get to this point where we are going to be doing so much more in our new facility. And for sharing today a little bit about how meeting those changing needs of the community has looked like in the last few years and will forge the future together. My pleasure. Thank you. And thank you very much for joining us here at the Y Connection. And we'll continue through the fall and winter to deliver on what's new and happening at the Y. And as we get closer to the beginning of the year and early 2020 with the opening of our new building, we'll be talking more directly about that, showing you images. We're excited. We hope you are too. And again, thank you. And thank you, Channel 17. Take care.