What exactly IS a YMCA?

There is only one good answer to that question-- a YMCA is a local non-profit, charitable, social service organization that seeks to "build healthy spirit, mind and body for all." Working in partnership, local volunteers and staff design and provide programs and services with a mission-driven purpose . How each of the 2,686 YMCAs in the US and thousands more in 120 other countries does this is as unique as the needs and resources of each of their communities. There is no "typical" YMCA.

Where does your name, Meeting Waters, come from?

Founded in 1895 as the Bellows Falls YMCA, our organization's name was changed in the mid-1960s to the Fall Mountain YMCA. The volunteer leaders of the time felt this name better captured the regional nature of its work, which at the time focused on the Greater Bellows Falls and Fall Mountain regions.

In the mid-1980s, Mr. William J. Bryant made it possible for the Fall Mountain YMCA to acquire his Meeting Waters Farm nestled at the confluence of the Black and Connecticut Rivers. Needing a name that reflected our Y's new service area, the volunteer leaders chose Meeting Waters in part because there is no other name that identifies the entirety of our service area and also in honor of the significant contributions Mr. Bryant made to our organization over the years. (By the way, the land that was the Meeting Waters Farm is now home to our Lewis Day Camp , Adventure Camps, KinderCamp and Family Camp , as well as teambuilding and leadership development programs for local schools.)

While it takes some explaining, we love our name. Given that we are an organization focused on bringing together people who live along the many rivers in our area (Connecticut River, Cold River, Black River, West River, Saxtons River, Williams River, etc., etc.), Meeting Waters seems to be a most fitting name!

Are you funded by the national YMCA?

No. Our financial well-being is entirely the responsibility of local volunteers and staff, as well as the people of the communities we serve.

In fact, even the wording of the question is based on a common misconception. There is no national YMCA. All 2,686 YMCAs in America (as of 8/18/08... the number grows monthly) are independent non-profit corporations created by and led by local volunteers. YMCA of the USA is our national resource center. It supports local Y's successes by providing consulting services in areas all Y's need to succeed (Research & Planning, Training & Development, Legal, Human Resources, Purchasing, Marketing, etc.). The only financial exchange between local YMCAs and YMCA of the USA is each local YMCA's "percentage support" payment to Y-USA for the services they provide for us. Only "earned revenues" are taxed, keeping every penny of all local donations, government contracts, and grants kept right in the local community.

Well, then where does your funding come from?

One reason the YMCA movement is over 150 years old and still gaining strength is that independent Ys have historically funded their operations through a mix of sources-local donations, membership fees, program fees, and to a lesser extent grants and government contracts. As a "non-facility YMCA," the Meeting Waters YMCA does not have memberships, an income source that makes up about 40% of revenues at most Ys. For our regional YMCA, developing programs that qualify for third-party funding has been essential for both the organization and those we serve.

The Child Care Subsidy Programs of Vermont and New Hampshire have been central to being able to provide essential services while ensuring financing to do it with quality and longevity. In 2007, local families in tough economic situations received over $207,000 in financial assistance and subsidized services so they could attend one or more of our licensed child care programs- ASPIRE , Kindergarten ASPIRE , Snow Day Program , Lewis Day Camp, Adventure Camps, KinderCamp and Child Care Transportation Program.

Donations to our board's two annual fundraising efforts  the Annual Support Campaign in the fall and Reach Out to Youth Campaign in the spring  provide essential supports for our charitable work.

We also benefit from the generosity of many local business people who donate products and/or services to our organization's efforts. For example, Focused Consulting developed this website at no cost to the Meeting Waters YMCA (a contribution of nearly $10,000). HB/Springfield Plumbing and Heating has donated over $30,000 in services to improve our Lewis Day Camp facility and an anonymous donor has done all of our printing at no cost to us over the past five years. These are just a few examples of how local businesses are helping us help others.

What does the Meeting Waters YMCA do?

We've done a lot of things over the past 100-plus years. One thing is common throughout our rich history-we've provided important services and remained flexible to ever-changing community needs. Currently, the majority of our services are focused on providing nurturing, year-round out-of-school programming for youth ages 5-12. That is what communities from as far south as Guilford to as far north as Chester have asked us to do. In eleven communities, we serve children year-round through ASPIRE (which operates for full days on all school vacations and most holidays as well as after school for all 180 days of a school year) and our summer camp programs. These camps provide enriching summer programming for hundreds of children from over 30 Vermont and New Hampshire communities. All this makes us the largest provider of state-licensed school-age child care in southeastern Vermont.

We are a community-responsive organization, and our program offerings reflect that. Our Child Care Transportation Program in Brattleboro helps over 30 children from at-risk environments get between home and a nurturing child care program. Our Snow Days Program, also in Brattleboro, came about after HR Directors of many of the area's largest employers came together around the issue of increased employee absenteeism on days when schools are closed for inclement weather. A few hours after the meeting ended, our partners in the Brattleboro School District had given us space and we announced the new program! Our Youth & Government program at Fall Mountain Regional High School filled a void in the Government & Economics' curriculum and our Kindergarten ASPIRE program meets a critical need for working parents during the first month of school. These are just a few examples of our mission-driven community responsiveness.

Our new "push" is in the area of health promotion. Under the umbrella of Activate Windham County, we have a number of different programs, projects and initiatives aimed at improving supports for healthy lifestyles at the individual, family and community levels.