NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — David Foster, Executive Director at the Hutchinson YMCA gave an update to the Hutchinson City Council on Tuesday, as the integration into the Wichita YMCA network is now complete.
"It's really good for Hutchinson," Foster said. "Not only does that give us a lot of resources and things like that for training staff. It also helps us meet our mission, which is to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all, regardless of the ability to pay. That's a way that we can really be a resource for residents and people in the community. No one should ever be turned away from the Y for membership or programs and free community programs that we offer, based on their financial situation."
The Y is looking at what the future may look like in Hutchinson and they believe it will likely be in the same place.
"Do we retrofit and renovate? Do we expand? We've got a lot of moving parts," Foster said. "We don't have any specific plans right now, but I want you to know that is something that we are looking at. If you've been to any of our other YMCAs in Wichita, not only are those facilities nice, but those facilities allow us to meet the needs, like I mentioned before."
A program that has been a big success is the middle school night at the Y.
"We open the Y one Saturday a month, the second Saturday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.," Foster said. "After we close, those middle school students can come to the Y, have a safe place, a good environment, to do all the things that they maybe wouldn't otherwise be able to do. We had our first one of the school year in October and we had 138 students there, 126 of them were not members of the Y. That's a great outreach, I think, for us."
The hope is that maybe a retrofit or expansion could help to fill some of the gap in 0 to pre-K childcare, but no specific plans are on the table yet.
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