http://www.niagara-gazette.com/siteS...344021350.html
As merger takes shape, Falls YMCA looks to boost image
In the Balkans, a region torn by war, 85 children meet every day through a local YMCA. The program runs on 150 euros a year. Everybody is a volunteer. They scrounge for arts and crafts supplies.
“They do it because they want a better life for their kids,” said John Murray, president of the Greater Buffalo YMCA.
That’s the story Murray tells if you ask him why the YMCA of Greater Buffalo has agreed to take over the Niagara Falls YMCA and invest more than $300,000 in a facility that has struggled with bills and a declining membership.
Last week, the Greater Buffalo YMCA officially took over the Falls organization in a move that required the local board of directors to dissolve so that the its assets, which include the Portage Road building and a shuttered camp in Wilson, could be transferred to the control of the Buffalo group.
The Falls facility on Portage Road will now be the eighth branch of the Greater Buffalo organization.
Murray believes the take-over will allow the YMCA to fulfill its mission by increasing its geographic reach, expanding the programs it offers and widening its membership. The move will also allow the Y to tap unserved markets in suburban and rural areas of Niagara County.
Y leaders will likely face several challenges as they look to restore the organization’s influence in the Falls.
Revenue at the Falls YMCA have dropped 25 percent in five years as membership declined and the organization plunged further into debt. The directors shut its camp and reduced programs to cut expenses.
As recently as last week, said Angelo Tecchio, the executive director of the Falls YMCA before it merged, the group struggled to meet its payroll for more than three dozen full- and part-time workers.
The facility also owes about $100,000 in unpaid water bills and penalties, Murray said.
Leaders will also have to address fears that arose during a year-long merger process in which the Falls YMCA’s Board of Directors approved the transfer despite a general membership vote against the plan.
A state judge approved the merger plan in early November.
Greg Larson, the new branch manager of the Falls YMCA, said he understands why volunteers and members are concerned about the changes,
“It’s a sense of loss of control,” said Larson, who managed the YMCA in Kenmore before taking the job in the Falls.
Larson and other Y leaders hope to quell rumors that they plan to close the inner-city facility on Portage Road, which he said are not true.
By improving the programs the Falls branch offers and upgrading its facilities, Larson believes the organization can bring in as many as 500 new members within a few years. The branch will also begin a fundraising in January to help boost revenue.
“We’re really looking at the individual needs of the county,” Larson said. “We want to enhance the variety of offerings.”
Renovations at the Portage Road site to remove its front desk, turn a first-floor fitness room into a multipurpose room and create a second-floor gym are already underway. Murray expects upgrades to the building’s fire alarm system, which will be partially paid through the city’s Community Development Department, to begin in the spring.
Y leaders would also like the organization to become less reliant on third-party funding to pay for its operations.
While about 45 percent of the Niagara Falls YMCA’s $841,114 in revenue came from membership dues and program fees in 2004, the Greater Buffalo organization drew nearly three-quarters of the $9.93 million it took in from those two funding sources.
“It’s a fresh start for the Y,” Larson said.
Murray, who started his 30-year career with the YMCA in Niagara County, said the Falls branch will continue to offer residential services.
While he acknowledged that the YMCA has courted proposals by Wheatfield officials to build a facility similar to its Southtowns branch, Murray said that proposal won’t affect its Niagara Falls facility.
“It’s really been a conversation that has never been done in the context of Niagara Falls,” he said during a recent interview.
Despite the challenges ahead, Murray is confident the organization can brighten its image in the Falls
“If we don’t do it, who else is going to do it?” he asked.
Now heres why I posted it, a lot of people that used to do stuff at the Y cant afford to go back now because they've increased the prices.
That means that all the inner city kids that were able to go before cant go now.
Which means its one less thing for the kids to do.....
The Niagara Falls Y would've been closed by now, if the merger didn't happen.
It was deteriorating, both financially and physically.
As far as fees going up, the Y has a "no child is turned away" policy. Anyone who has a hard time paying, just has to apply for assistance. They will not be turned away. This even applies to Summer Camps, as well.
LOL!!Originally Posted by woodstock
The rising- I did not know that
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