YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee
Milwaukee
Industry: Nonprofit
When schools and daycare facilities shut down across the state in the spring, the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee quickly developed a program to fill in the gaps for emergency responders.
In March, after shutting down its fitness centers, the organization opened county-wide Emergency Responder Child Care Camps to provide care for the children of essential first responders and health care services workers.
“We needed to be an answer for our families who were coming to us and saying, ‘What can you do for us? We have to work,’” said Carrie Wall, president and chief executive officer of the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee.
Before opening, the Y consulted with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and city of Milwaukee Health Department to build a set of protocols based on available research, and borrowed lessons learned from other Ys across the country.
Across its day camp sites, Y staff and virtual volunteers helped children with their schoolwork and led a variety of fun and educational online programs. The program was funded by enrollment fees, grant funds and state subsidies.
“This team went to work,” Wall said. “... It wasn’t about making money at this point. We just knew we needed to be part of the solution.”
The lessons learned from the camps in the spring paved the way for the Y to open seven day camps serving more than 250 school-age children in the summer.
For its quick response to support frontline workers, the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee received recognition in the Fueling the Frontlines category of the MMAC’s Focus on the Future Awards.
“I’ve never seen staff so ready to be solution finders and really jump in to what are the greatest needs right now,” Wall said. “Especially with children in the city, the disparities are growing. Inequities are growing. This staff is passionate about continuing the work and getting on the right path.”
Throughout the spring and summer, Y leaders prepared for whatever might happen when school resumed in the fall, including fully in-person, fully online or hybrid formats. The organization recently launched Extended Learning Academies at three of its sites, offering an in-person program to support students who are e-learning through their school district.
“We needed to help families who cannot be (at home), or maybe there are some who need to work at home and don’t want their kid to have that much screen time,” Wall said. “We already have five months proven working on this.”
Now, the Y is in hiring mode to staff its early education sites.
