During the first wave, we offered up our buildings to hospitals across the GTA in case they became overwhelmed and overcrowded. Later, we repurposed spaces as COVID-19 testing and vaccination clinics. As food insecurity peaked, we transformed eight of our centres into pop-up food banks and three of those have been permanent. We, also turned part of our YMCA Cedar Glen Outdoor Centre into a food sorting and distribution site for York Region, and collected hundreds of pounds of non-perishables through food drives at our Health & Fitness centres.

The YMCA is present in 400+ locations across the GTA, including nine larger Centres of Community, each offering tens of thousands of square feet of space that can be repurposed during emergencies. In the future, YMCAs could be used as additional vaccination sites and, temporary food banks, or emergency shelters for people experiencing homelessness, to name just three of many possibilities.

During the lockdowns, the YMCA cared for the children of essential workers — nurses, doctors, police, firefighters, personal support workers, grocery store staff, and so many more — so they could do their crucial work on the frontlines.

As the largest not-for-profit child care provider in Canada, we know how critical this service is for our economic recovery. We’ll continue our fifty-year-long legacy of delivering and advocating for more high-quality, affordable child care, so more families who need and want it have this option available to them.

Just three days after closing the doors of our Health & Fitness centres in March 2020, our community reunited virtually in a group fitness class livestreamed straight to their homes. Over the course of the summer 2020, our Y would share 545 videos to help our members stay active and connected, culminating in over 2.1 million views. Our ever-evolving fitness options, which now include outdoor classes (when permitted) and virtual classes and personal training, continue to support our members’ physical and mental well-being throughout a crisis that threatens both. We’ve also extended support in other ways with many programs pivoting to include remote employment services, virtual camp activities and our new online community The Bright Spot which connects older adults, many of whom were already feeling isolated before the pandemic.

So much of what people gain at the Y helps them build resilience, from the physical exercise we know to be connected with mental health, to the feelings of community and connection we know people need to live a fulfilling life. In the coming years, we’ll prioritize the mental health of our members, participants, volunteers, and employeesstaff, investing in the supports all people need to boost this critical aspect of well-being.