Amid an ongoing self-evaluation, the Goldsboro Family YMCA is hosting a pair of town halls on Sept. 26.
The town halls will be held at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and will allow YMCA staff to share their vision for the future, reflect on challenges the YMCA is currently facing, and take questions from the public.
This year marks 40 years that the Goldsboro Family YMCA has served the community.
“I think the town hall is necessary to answer questions someone may have without someone filling in their own narrative with what they may think,” said Goldsboro Family YMCA CEO Mark Pritchett. “The question and answer time to me is going to be interesting. Philosophically, I’ve come up with the idea of laying a bridge, since it’s 40 years this year, laying a bridge back over the legacy, and inviting people to continue to participate.”
The Goldsboro Family YMCA has not been immune to challenges following the Covid-19 pandemic. Affordable fitness options other than the YMCA are now more available to the public, and like many organizations, the YMCA has felt the struggles associated with staffing issues.
“When someone is shopping around (for a gym) the for-profit gyms that are available, in my own heart and mind, I don’t see a competition because the YMCA is more than a swim and gym,” Pritchett said. “I think that is really our forte. We invite people to come in and be a community partner. Other places certainly have a different price point. But we offer is something completely different. We are a cause-driven organization. Members have the opportunity to come and volunteer and be a part of something bigger than themselves.”
Pritchett and his staff made the painful decision in August not to open the YMCA’s child development center for the year. The CDC typically opens around the same time that Wayne County Public Schools returns back to school in August.
Pritchett pointed to staff shortages, and operating at a deficit as the primary reasons behind the decision. He also stressed that the decision is not permanent and that the YMCA still maintains the goal of eventually re-opening the CDC.
“It was a very, very difficult decision made because you think about the three key areas in Wayne County or Goldsboro,” Pritchett said. “You start thinking about economic development, education, and childcare. With childcare in this community, there’s such a great need. In looking to where we are financially as a YMCA, and sustaining where we are as a YMCA, our preschool has operated in the red for many years. One of the things that contributed to that are quality of staff, and one of people’s biggest vested commodities are their children, and if people are entrusting their children to you, you want to provide a safe environment for them to be in, and they’re growing and getting ready for kindergarten. We really needed to reassess, and so we needed to pause it. I believe we had a good child development center, but I want to have an excellent child development center because I believe our community deserves that.”
