20 Jan YMCA of Greater Kansas City Receives $100,000 from Health Forward Foundation, Healthy Communities

The YMCA of Greater Kansas City recently received a grant for $100,000 from the Health Forward Foundation, Healthy Communities to ensure that the healthy living strategies planned and implemented at the downtown Y, many of which will be scalable across the association, are inclusive and accessible to employees and residents who are low-income, underinsured, or uninsured.

The proposed project includes continued planning and the launch of 1) programs and services packaged in a  new model for workplace wellness that appeals to the target population; and 2) an  innovative service delivery platform that makes traditional and emerging Y programs accessible through hybrid modalities to a larger and more diverse constituency.  The Y will add capacity that includes full-time staff, as well as volunteer structures to ensure that the new service delivery model is truly inclusive of the target population and that feedback from stakeholders consistently informs the work.

This project began because the Y realized and acknowledged that the traditional models of corporate wellness excluded groups of individuals who have low incomes, and who have been historically marginalized. The will to change is an important first step in any policy change (including institutional policy change), and in diversity and inclusion work. The Y reached out to community partners and invited employers of, and employees from, the service industry in downtown Kansas City to engage in dialog to test assumptions the Y’s project team had about what service workers need. This planning process includes multiple phases, including planning and information gathering in Year one; and now pilot testing and ongoing feedback and refinement in Year two. The establishment of an advisory committee and “champions”, or formal roles to sustain the feedback from the affected target population, ensures their ongoing input.

Founded in 1860 as the seventh Y in North America, the YMCA of Greater Kansas City has 160 years of experience in identifying and addressing needs of individuals, families, and communities. Originally founded to provide safe shelter and a positive environment for young men moving to Kansas City for work, the YMCA of Greater Kansas City’s mission has evolved to meet the holistic needs of individuals and families. While the facilities and program offerings have changed, what remains is the organizational commitment to empowering people to live healthier lives throughout their entire lifespan and to do so in an environment that fosters social support. The Y is committed to making membership and all programs and services accessible to individuals who are low-income through financial assistance policies. Our mission: Founded on Christian principles, [The Y] is a charitable organization with an inclusive environment committed to enriching the quality of family, spiritual, social, mental, and physical well-being. The Y is part of the federated YMCA of the USA (YUSA) system, present in all 50 states and affiliated with the international Y movement in 119 countries. The YMCA of Greater Kansas City has 12 membership centers and over 60 program sites serving the following counties in the greater metropolitan region: Jackson, Clay, and Platte counties (Missouri); and Wyandotte, Johnson, and Atchison counties (Kansas).