‘It’s not a job, it’s part of what I am,’ Kim says (6 photos)

The Sault YMCA is more than a nice fitness centre with several workout rooms and a swimming pool.

“I would say the YMCA is ‘a movement,’ not just a facility. It’s more of an organization that works to address the needs of the community it’s in,” said Kim Caruso, Sault YMCA CEO, speaking to SooToday.

“It’s a huge part of my life, since I was 11,” Kim said, her eyes welling up with tears.

“It’s in my heart. It is such a part of who I am. I came from a single parent family, and the impact the Y had on me is what I want to help others with,” said Kim, who had a sponsored membership, went through the Y’s leadership program and became a lifeguard at the pool before eventually becoming the Sault YMCA’s CEO.

“If the Y hadn’t been here, we wouldn’t have had anything. So to have that subsidy and belong somewhere and not be on the streets…my sister, my brother and I were here all the time and if it wasn’t for the Y, I don’t know what life would have been like,” Kim said.

“I’ve been here for about a year and a half, coming from a background in retail. It’s a much different environment here, with the ability to be a part of something so important to the  community…that really strikes me,” said Rose Berardelli, Sault YMCA marketing and membership services manager.

“For us, it’s not a job. At the end of the day you know you helped somebody,” Kim said.

The many needs the Y aims to meet, Kim said, include health and well-being (the fitness rooms and the pool), childcare for working parents and services for immigrants new to the community.

“It (the YMCA) is different for every community it’s in, not only in Sault Ste. Marie and across the country, but all over the world (the organization is present in approximately 140 countries).”

The first YMCA location in North America was established in Montreal in 1851.

The Sault YMCA movement began in 1900 at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.

At first, one of the services offered by the Y was a rooming house.

The first Sault YMCA building was located at 123 March Street in 1913 (built for $50,000), and included a swimming pool, recreation facilities and a rooming house.

The Y later moved to its current home at 235 McNabb Street in 1965 (the property purchased for $35,000).

The Y no longer offers rooming facilities, but, in the building’s gymnastics area, will accommodate elementary level school groups passing through the Sault on their way to other locations for graduation ceremonies and out-of-town field trips.

“A big part of our services involves childcare,” Rose said.

“There are lots of child and youth programs after school…we have a space for youth to come and play basketball in the gym and the bus will come here right from the schools. That’s a need to be filled, instead of them hanging out on the streets. This is a safe place for them to be, we can monitor them and keep them on the right path.”

“We have the ability to help people. Sponsored memberships are huge for some people. It allows people of all ages to come in and maintain a healthy lifestyle when ordinarily they wouldn’t be able to pay for their membership,” Rose said.

Those people may include Ontario Works or ODSP clients, or hard working people living on limited incomes.

Memberships, Kim emphasized, are not subsidized by any level of government, but through generous donations and by existing members.

Sault YMCA community services also include a Youth in Action program located at Holy Angels Adult Learning Centre, funded by The United Way, providing free recreational programs in the downtown core Monday through Thursday evenings (participants need to register).

That program includes nutrition, tutoring and a physical fitness component for children and youth, including everything from yoga to martial arts to football and basketball. 

Another program based out of the Y, one that is federally funded, is the Starting Transitions Toward Employment Program (STTEP), in which youth learn resume writing and interview skills, its participants put into work placements within the community to gain work experience.

Funding for that program was recently increased in a Nov. 2017 announcement made by Sault MP Terry Sheehan and Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour.

Kim said that program will be branched out and expanded to Garden River First Nation.

The YMCA Youth Gambling Awareness Program is also in place, not to tell youth to stay away from gaming, but to be aware of the risk involved with being addicted to gambling.

Sault YMCA Employment Services run in cooperation with Ontario Works, with plans in place for a new Get Set program for 16 and 17-year-olds, aimed at getting youth paid or unpaid work experience.

The Y’s Juicy Beatz cafe, located near the McNabb building’s front entrance (with another location at Mill Market), offers healthy food and drinks such as Thai flatbread and smoothies, and as reported earlier by SooToday, esthetician Julie Godbout recently established Jewel Wellness in the building’s lower floor, her daughter Iesha planning to offer free prom makeovers for young women in June. 

“So, when people think of the Y and they think of the fitness centre, yes it’s a main component of our operation, but we do so many other things. It’s about creating a sense of belonging for people,” Kim said, adding approximately 100 volunteers, some with developmental disabilities who come in to help maintain the building, are much appreciated.

There are currently about 4,400 members at the Sault YMCA, with 80 staff members (that number increases to approximately 140 in the summer months for day camps). 

Donations to the Sault YMCA, which Kim emphasized is a not-for-profit organization, are always welcome.

More information on all things pertaining to the Sault YMCA, including an interestingly-named March 2, 2018 fundraiser called ‘Duelling Pianos,’ can be found on the Sault Ste. Marie YMCA website and Facebook page.