Metropolitan YMCAs of Mississippi

Youth development:the ymca is focused on ensuring equal opportunity is provided to all children regardless of obstacles they may have to overcome in their personal lives in an effort to have them reach their full potential. The organization believes it is the right of every single child and teen to have the ability to learn, grow and thrive. The ymca does this through a collection of ways including afterschool and summer day camp programs, sports programs, and feeding programs across the state. In 2022 eight hundred fifty-two (852) youth participated in the ymca's childcare programs for school-age children, two hundred seventy-nine (279) youth learned team building and sportsmanship skills through youth sports and two hundred and twenty (220) youth learned life saving skills thru swim programs. This past year, the y fed ninety-five thousand three hundred thirty-nine (95,339) healthy meals and snacks to children to help end childhood hunger. Most feeding sites are located in areas that have an estimated twenty-five percent food insecurity rate, while the national average is thirteen percent. The ymca also provides subsidies and direct financial assistance to make participation possible for all children.

Social responsibility:the y has been very successful in building relationships and joining resources to help better the jackson community as a team. Through a variety of organization-run events, the y has been able to showcase all the great resources the community provides while raising money for the y's efforts. Not only have events shown to be great ways to connect with other jackson partners, but the y has also been able to join forces in impacting the community served. The y had 4,624 participants in 2022 for family nights, welcoming weeks, healthy kids day, blood drives, flowood family festival, cinco de mayo among others. One example of the y's impact on the community, the facility is being offered as a primary location for girl scouts in clinton. In 2022 the y continued housing the veteran affairs, and also allowed space for va members to use the pools and workout areas to train and recover. The y is finding new and innovative ways to provide programs and facilities to the community. In 2022, there were 181,691 facility visits.

Healthy living:evidence-based health intervention (ebhi) programs were created by the metropolitan ymca of Mississippi in response to changing health care trends, in order to deliver community-based health and wellness programs that help the community become healthier and have a higher quality of life. In 2022 the y delivered the following (ebhi): blood pressure self-monitoring, matter of balance, healthy baby and me, parkinson's, and opioid prevention programming. Parkinson's programming had 25 members. The classes were offered both on land and on bikes to accommodate the different comfort levels of the individuals. Another way the y impacted local community needs is by implementing matter of balance classes geared towards the senior citizen population of which we had 33 participants. Through a two-month period, participants attended classes on a weekly basis that were focused on teaching seniors how to provide supportive self-measures and setting goals that will prevent falls. Encompassed with this program the y also offered enhancedfitness with 77 participants with more techniques to prevent falling. Thirty-four individuals participated in the blood pressure self-monitor program to improve their cardiovascular health. Three hundred forty school-age children participated in 5 educational sessions in our opioid prevention program. In these sessions, they learn safety around medication as well as strengthening the immune system. These programs have provided members and the community with physical characteristics that showcase the y is more than just a gym. These programs are accessible, affordable, and open to anyone regardless of demographic makeup, personal beliefs, or financial ability.