CLOSE
The Boone Area YMCA is a facility that serves 2,200 of people in our town and employs dozens of workers each year. Many people grew up around Ys and remember them as gym and swims, but the Y in Boone has meant so much more to many residents, and thus, its recent financial hardships have ignited rumors of imminent closure. It is not dead yet.
I’m not employed by the Y, but I have been a volunteer and board member for the organization for the past five years. The Y was the first place I found friendship and community when I moved to Boone. My yoga instructor (and now friend) Kelly helped me modify positions during my first pregnancy, even teaching me on the very day I ended up going into labor. She volunteered to drive me to the hospital if I needed it! The morning coffee club always greets my children kindly, telling them stories about their lives and pasts, and the older kids always have been kind to my kids on the basketball courts (and shown off their moves, too). No where else in town lets all ages come together in this way.
The reality: The Boone Y faces significant financial challenges, mainly because of two elements: the facility and loss of membership. The building is valiantly tended to by a loving staff, but the 1960s era concrete structure isnt a realistic home for the Y in the coming years. The roof is failing, the pool is in constant need of repair, and the entire facility is not ADA compliant. Because of recent rumors of imminent closure, the Y is also losing members. The recent Boone City Council meeting did more to muddy the waters than clarify them, especially when it came to “Why in the world is Boone part of the Des Moines Area YMCA and where is our money going?
As a part of the Greater Des Moines Area YMCA, Boone receives support with accounting, human resources management, technology, marketing, program development, and a wide variety of other services. The YMCA is a non-profit, which doesnt mean that it doesn’t have to earn money to keep its doors open. Still, the YMCA puts mission over money time and again, especially when it comes to supporting its rural facilities. For instance, the Boone Area Y usually receives financial support to keep its doors open, including $132,000 annually for our branch alone toward membership grants for individuals and families who cannot afford its services and programs. The Boone Y is not one of the branches financially fueling the organization as a whole, but it is an integral part of the mission of the YMCA to ensuring youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. For instance, 46% of children in the Boone school district qualify for free or reduced price lunch in the 2018-2019 school year. There is so much good that can be done in this community.
Boone as a community has stayed steady, or even bucked the trend for rural communities, by growing in population the past several years. Because of its central location and strong variety of industries, including being the home of Fareway and a major hub for the Union Pacific, Boone is well-situated to continue that trend. I can personally attest that as a young person without roots in the community, I wouldn’t be as attracted to Boone without a facility like the Y. With the CEO of Greater Des Moines Y before the current one, we had begun an exploratory process to build a new facility, but after leadership change that discussion was side-tabled. Now, more than ever, we need substantive, realistic plans for the coming years.
A few takeaways from recent discussions with leadership in the organization and the community. First, the Boone Y is open, at least for the month of August. After that point, it is up to the community. The CEO of the Y spoke to us at our most recent board meeting and laid out the situation in no uncertain terms. If Boone wants its current facility to stay open and by and large that is the overwhelming comment coming from the community in formal and informal channels then we need to raise $10,000 a month and stem the flow of membership loss. Current members: no need to cancel. If the facility were to close, you would receive a refund of any remaining membership fees owed. Donors interested in contributing in any amount to the effort should contact the Boone Y for more information.
The second takeaway: the current facility is not sustainable. The Des Moines Area YMCA, though helpful with planning and direction for many aspects, cannot pay for a new building for Boone. That effort needs to be community-sponsored and community supported if it is to take off. Realistically speaking that leaves three options: one, within the next year, the Boone Y will close with no plans for a new community center. This options leaves teens without safe, healthy places to go after school, active older adults without a place to gather for coffee and water activities, and children without opportunities to pursue activities like year-round swim lessons, basketball league, and flag football. Two, we begin fundraising and planning a new YMCA built with community support and grants. Community stakeholders, the city, the county, and the Y need to make this decision together. Or three, the city and local businesses and individuals plan for a new non-YMCA community center funded through some mixture of grants, an attempted bond issue, and the like. This effort could be a viable option, even without the mission-driven approach from the Y.
I don’t want the Y to close, but more than that, I don’t want the gaping hole that will be left without it. If you are an interested party, please contact your city council and the county board of supervisors with your opinion. And please, come join in a yoga class at the Y, where we can all take a deep breath together and let it out.
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