YMCA one of the cornerstones of Downtown WB

WILKES-BARRE — It’s rare to come across someone in the Greater Wyoming Valley who hasn’t had some affiliation with the YMCA.

Be it childcare, gym memberships, participating in one of the many classes and programs offered by the nonprofit, most everyone has had their place at the “Y.”

And while it may seem as though the pandemic would’ve challenged the organization, instead it saw a way to adapt and utilize modern technology and continue to serve the community as it has been for generations.

The predominate focus since 2020 has been on childcare. CEO Jim Thomas spoke at length about how childcare not only helped the YMCA stay open, but how they were able to utilize modern technology to offer children a place to learn while parents considered “essential workers” stayed on the job.

“I will tell you that the couple weeks before we closed and a couple weeks when we opened back up again, there wasn’t really a lot of traffic. It was more people that we had in our childcare center that had jobs and needed to work and needed a place for their children,” Thomas said of the initial shutdown. As things progressed, and folks realized that COVID-19 was going to stick around, the folks at the Y saw the challenge as an opportunity and rose to face it.

Thomas says that when a lot of local schools switched over to virtual learning, the Y was able to take their gymnasiums in Pittston and Wilkes-Barre and turn them into classrooms.

“We had a virtual learners’ program,” Thomas said. “So the children whose parents needed to go to work, and the schools were virtual, we became their school or their support to be able to get online, take their classes and go to school at the Y.”

Thomas reports the YMCA has also seen a bit of an uptick in their health-focused programs, particularly from the elderly, who may be wanting to learn how to take better care of themselves during these trying times.

As with anything, however, the YMCA did face its own challenges. While childcare became a primary driver through the course of the last two years, they did see memberships drop. Some folks put theirs on hold until times were a little more certain, and some cancelled entirely. Thomas said they went from about 7,500 members to 5,000. Their optimistic for 2022, however, hoping to drive those numbers back up and doing it with a smile, while promoting downtown and all of its businesses and organizations.

He says organizations like the DCP, the Osterhout Free Library, all of the local churches, the Westmoreland Club, and yes, the YMCA have been “cornerstones of the community” and keep bringing people to downtown Wilkes-Barre.

Thomas summarized their high hopes for the year, saying, “We try to be as upbeat as we possibly can because that’s what people need from the Y, so we’re there to support them.”

And if you have any interest in supporting the YMCA, you can always get a membership, which you can apply for by visiting www.wvymca.org, or calling your local branch. With a Pittston Center, a Wilkes-Barre Center, the Casterline Child Care Center, the newly opened Mericle Family Center and Camp Kresge, there’s no shortage of locations to get involved with or donate to.

Speaking of Camp Kresge, Thomas says the YMCA is currently look to fill a number of positions for what they’re hoping will be a “robust resident camp.” The positions include lifeguards and a number of other aquatic roles, and they’re even offering training to interested applicants. If you’d like to explore employment opportunities with the Greater Wyoming Valley YMCA, you can visit the aforementioned website and click on the employment opportunities tab, located under the ‘About’ section.