Y Summer Day Camp gives children a place to belong. Campers formed new friendships while experiencing new opportunities participating in summer activities. Campers had the opportunity to learn about “Healthy Living” everyday through games, activities and projects such as creating Healthy Super Heroes and writing comic books to making making hacky sacks to take home and keep the whole family active. On an average day of camp each of the 300 campers spent 30 minutes reading, keeping their minds sharp and preventing the summer slide many children experience during the summer. Y Campers will go back to school on track for reading. Campers spent time each day during snack discussing how “Character Counts”. Daily topics such as honesty, caring, respect, responsibility, manners, sharing, and being kind to one another gave every camper the
773 Campers in Camp participated y read a Readers. The 1 hours! total of 6,90
chance to share their personal experiences, learn from each other and grow as individuals. Summer is not summer without swimming. Just ask the campers what they love most and swimming will be the answer. Campers enjoyed cooling off on hot summer days while learning about water safety and improving their water skills.
A MESSAGE FROM OUR
PRESIDENT & CEO In my new role as President & CEO, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support of the Y. It has been an outstanding summer at the YMCA of the Pikes Peak Region, filled with family, friendship and most importantly, fun! From families splashing in the pools to kids making new friends in camp, every day at the Y is filled with memories to remember. Our collaboration with the City allows families to enjoy swimming in the beautiful Colorado weather. The Y has provided families opportunities such as water safety, swim lessons, low impact exercise and recreational swimming to over 36,000 individuals at the outdoor pools this summer. When the seasonal monsoon rains began to fall, the indoor pools at Memorial Park and Cottonwood Creek provided a great indoor option with many fun amenities. The laughter of children filled the halls of the Y this summer with Day Camp serving an average of 300 children per week. Our summer camp program develops young people and builds self-confidence and self-reliance through activities that challenge each to grow personally. We take the responsibility of developing future leaders seriously and camp is one of many programs offered which focuses on the whole person; spirit, mind and body. Camp Shady Brook provided the same confidence to 1,200 young people over the summer and a new level of independence was developed for many campers who experienced their first week away from home. The Y was honored to host Camp Corral again this year, providing two weeks of life-changing experiences for the children of our military soldiers whom were either injured in conflict or suffered the ultimate sacrifice. I would like to personally invite you to take a tour of the Y to show you first-hand the importance of your support to the kids and families we serve. As the leader of this organization which has served the region steadfastly for the past 136 years, I take seriously the responsibility of ensuring our community truly understands the Y as a strong community partner and a cause driven, charitable organization that is a seen as an investment to our community’s future. Our Y will continue to be good stewards of the dollars we receive. Your financial investment helps to provide the means for needed programs and services to individuals who otherwise may not have been involved due to financial constraints. Thanks to you, we are community! Thank you for your continued support and sharing the great work of the Y with your friends and family. In Spirit,
Boyd A. Williams President and Chief Executive Officer
“Our summer camp program develops young people and builds self-confidence and self-reliance through activities that challenge each to grow personally.�
A PLACE TO BELONG:
FAITH
The first year of high school is always the scariest, especially when you can hardly speak from the fear of the tall and incredibly intimidating upperclassmen. Every single day for the first three weeks “...the Teen Center is one of of school, I would my favorite places and I am a ride the bus to and from school, silent, better person for just trying to survive. being here.” I didn’t realize there were other places to be, options I could choose so I wouldn’t be so lonely and scared. I remember walking in to hang out at the Teen Center for the very first time. There were a mix of students, from middle school students to upperclassmen, and I remember freezing to the spot. But one of the Y staff called my name and dragged me Faith in with a cheery look of determination Age 15 to make me stay. That first day still
remains one of my favorite days ever. It was the most comfortable I had been all year. I had finally found a place I was okay to be a little geeky and have some fun. It offered somewhere that I could be happy, free of judgment. Those three extra hours were the happiest of my day! By the end of the year, I walked around with a little more confidence, self-esteem, and many more friends. I felt safe at my school because plenty of other students went to the Teen Center as well! It’s hard to imagine what I’d be doing without the Teen Center in my day. I wouldn’t have my friends or my confidence; I would be staying at home all day by myself and I just wouldn’t be as happy as I am. The games, the crafts, and all of the activities we do have benefit; they make me think and work but in a fun way. The staff makes everything light and fun with open arms if you need help with anything! I can easily say the Teen Center is one of my favorite places and I am a better person for being here. I’m so thankful a program like this with these wonderful people exists.
AGE DOESN’T NEED TO BE A DETERRENT:
MARY
Mary Ritchie
Apart of Y Family Since 2005 Member Service Representative Briargate Family Y
In 1988, I began to experience great bouts of depression. When I went to the doctor to get help, I basically got a verbal pat on the head and was told that everyone gets drepressed from time to time and I would just have to live with it. I turned to food as a way to self-medicate the feelings and eventually reached 233 lbs. Thank goodness for the Y and being able to exercise there. It really was life saving for me. It gave me a reason to get up each morning and forced me to get out of the house and be with people. I finally reached my goal of losing 100 pounds! I started doing half marathons and the year that I turned 60, I did one half martahon and one full marthon, just to show that age does not need to be a deterrent to healthy living. I am grateful that the Y cares about the whole person. Spirit and mind as well as the body. That we will care for you and care about you, just as you are and where you are today in your life journey. And we are not just an organization that is focused inwardly. Rather we want to reach outward and make a positive difference in our community one opportunity at a time.
THE MISSING QUALITY OF LIFE IS FOUND:
KRISTINA WEATHERFORD Meet Kristina Weatherford, a single mother of two, grappling And then, a friend suggested Kristina join the YMCA. With with the effects of CRPS or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. permission from her doctors, Kristina got the go-ahead to join a Following a bad fall three years ago, Kristina shattered the bones water aerobics class. “I enrolled here at the Garden Ranch YMCA, in her right wrist, leading to the diagnosis of CRPS. Essentially and I go to the water exercise for arthritis sufferers. It was her nerve endings “never shut off”, leaving her in constant pain. available at a reduced cost because they looked at my income, Kristina spent a year and a half trying to keep up at work, but which also surprised me.” ended up bed ridden and unable to go about her normal life due to the Kristina’s focus is on staying mobile as “It was available at a debilitating pain. much as possible. She is a regular at the Y these days, and has even ventured out reduced cost becuase they “I was very, very depressed; very to the looked at my income... It’s down. When you’re told you can’t movies, which was an exciting work again and you’re a career development for her. Ms. Weatherford given me a light in my life, a oriented, it’s very hard. I didn’t credits the Y as a saving grace; “It’s given reason to continue on, a reason me a light in my life, a reason to continue know how to pull myself out of bed. I know that with what I have on, a reason to have fun and enjoy life. I to have fun and enjoy life.” it’s a progressive disease, so I was have more of a quality of life now, that I looking at my future, which is not didn’t have before.” fun to look at.”
COUPLED ON CORPORATE WELLNESS:
DOUG & DENISE For years, research has shown that healthy employees are happy employees, and nothing makes the YMCA of the Pikes Peak Region happier than building your business morale with our Corporate Health & Wellness initiative. Our Wellness at Work program aims to help local businesses and their employees foster well-being on three basic levels; spirit, mind, and body. With a variety of program options to choose from, Pikes Peak area employees can receive support and find success participating in wellness options such as group exercise classes, fitness assessments, well-being coaching, membership access to 8 YMCA facilities, and much more. Doug Phelps and his wife, Denise, started with 8 personal life coaching sessions with YMCA Wellness Coach, McKenna Montcalm. Doug writes, “We found the meetings to be goal defining, supportive, energetic, filled with workable suggestions, heartfelt congratulations, and most of all, gentle accountability. Since starting with McKenna in February, I have lost 15 pounds and practice a daily stretching routine. My wife has found her way back to regular gym visits and a daily activity regimen... We are
hoping the coaching program will be available next year and we will certainly participate.” Another employee worked alongside YMCA Wellness Coach Haley Mattison, and wrote, “Haley’s positive attitude has always put me at ease which enabled me to look at myself and find strength that I really never knew existed. Life coaching has been one of the best experiences I’ve had.” Good health makes for good business, and the YMCA of the Pikes Peak Region wants to help get you there.
“Life coaching has been one of the best experiences I’ve had.”
A Swimming History of Water Safety The YMCA is home to many remarkable milestones at a national and international level, but none make quite the splash that our swimming programs do! The first YMCA “swimming bath” was constructed in Brooklyn in 1885. Those humble beginnings of a 14’ x 45’ pool that was only five feet deep gave way to 17 more pools in that year alone. In 1906, George Corsan of the Detroit YMCA started mass swimming lessons that integrated the use of land and water to teach appropriate swim stroke technique. By 1932, the YMCA’s of the nation were home to more than 1,000,000 swimmers each year! Moreover, in 1984, the YMCA became the largest operator of swimming pools in the world. Ryan Best, current lifeguard, swim instructor, and swim team coach, is a proud part of the YMCA’s aquatics legacy. Like our own history, his love for the water began early. Growing up Ryan had always admired lifeguards and had seen the life-changing importance of their work. Ryan’s experiences with active rescues have served as a reminder on just how vital his job is. Ryan writes, “…these experiences helped me become more vigilant and become more aware of my surroundings. Also, it has helped me teach and explain the importance of teaching swimming lessons as well as water safety.” Thanks to our strong, exceptional aquatic staff like Ryan, the YMCA continues to be an innovator in the world of water.
In 1906, George Corsan (pictured above) of the Detroit YMCA started the first mass swimming lessons. Not only was the YMCA home for the first group swimming lessons but in 1885 the world’s first indoor swimming pool is dedicated at the Brooklyn (N.Y.) Central YMCA. The YMCA eventually went on to be the first to train and certify for scuba, 1959 as well as creating a water filtration system for their pools.