Ymca of Kanawha Valley

Sports and recreation- Ymca sports programs concentrate on sportmanship, character building, motivation, and fair play. The Ymca philosophy and goals are that everyone plays and has fun. Youth sports programs help to develop children in mind, body, and spirit. The objective is to not only help youth to become better athletes, but also become better individuals, through sportmanship, character building, and social responsibilities. Not every participant can win every contest, but every participant can be a winner. The programs involve children from ages three to eighteen years as well as adults of all ages. Youth participated in a wide variety of sports opportunities that included basketball, teeball, lacrosse, home school p.e., volleyball, soccer, flag football, summer camps, cheerleading,softball, and kickball. The Ymca adult sports activities provide members and participants with the opportunity to live healthier lifestyles through sports. Many of our participants are involved in multiple sports or leagues. We continue our efforts in building better people through sportmanship and social responsabilties. Adult sports include basketball and volleyball. In addition to our adult sports, the Ymca normally holds the corporate cup challenge, which includes over 30 events over a 3 week period. Corporate cup strives to promote health and fitness throughout the local community as well as giving back to other nonprofit organizations such as mountain mission, union mission, red cross, ronald mcdonald house, manna meal, Kanawha humane society, and helping the local military.

Child development cross lanes - Ymca child development center is a licensed child care facility through the wv dhhr bureau for children and families, division of early care and education, with a capacity to serve 245 children daily, ages 6 weeks to 12 years old. Our center operates monday thru friday from 6:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. we believe that it is our social responsibility to offer the highest quality of care and education in all of our youth development programs including daycare, preschool, Kanawha county schools pre-k, before and after school care, and summer day camps. All child development center employees receive five separate background checks, a drug screening, training in child abuse and neglect prevention and a thorough orientation prior to hire, all teachers and/or counselors must either have a ceritification in an education or related field, be working towards a certification or have two years or more experience in a related field. All employees are required to maintain a cpr/first aid certification and complete 18 hours of training each calendar year. Providing a safe and nurturing learning environment for all children regardless of their economic status or inability to pay is central to the Ymca's mission. In order to ensure that all children receive high-quality care and education, our center serves families receiving government assistance from west Virginia resource and referral agencies. In addition, Ymca of Kanawha Valley also offers scholarships for families needing assistance with child care needs. These scholarships are funded through Ymca fundraising efforts. Our center utilizes the creative curriculum, which is built on theories that all children learn through active exploration of their environment and therefore the environment plays a critical role in learning. The goal of the creative curriculum is to help children become independent, self-confident, inquisitive and enthusiastic learners in all areas of development including social/emotional, cognitive, physical and language. Our center also promotes healthy living for our children and families by following standards set forth by the child and adult care food program, national school lunch and keys4healthy kids. All children in our center are served a nutritious breakfast, lunch, and snack. During the spring and summer month's children participate in gardening where we grow our own fruits, vegetables and herbs to promote healthy eating habits. In addition to healthy eating all children receive at least 90 minutes of gross motor time each day. Gross motor spaces are separated into age appropriate areas which include the school and playground, preschool playground, toddler playground, indoor playground anf gymnasium.

Health enhancement - the Ymca promotes healthy living to people of all ages, abilities and income levels. Our health and fitness programs are geared toward improving a person's spirit, mind and body. Our fitness center offers a wide variety of cardio, selectorized and free weight equipment, which allows our members to work out on their own, or take advantage of our numerous personal trainers. We also offer many fitness class options including boot camps, aerobic classes, spinning, yoga, pilates, water aerobics and many classes for our senior population, including silver sneakers. The Ymca also offers the peia weight management program, hosts the annual healthy kids day event, has a farmer's market vendor here weekly in the summer months, and periodically offers wellness workshops for its members and the public.

Ymca family life programs: strengthening families and meeting the needs of children have always been central to the Ymca mission of building healthy spirits, minds, and bodies for all. The Ymca is proud to be a family organization. We give families a safe, reliable, and affordable place to go. Recreational opprortunities such as family movie swim and parent's night out let families relax and enjoy each other. Ymca programs provide children and their parents with activities that foster understanding and companionship. Parents have the opprtunity to learn from each other and from their children in an enjoyable way. We encourage youth with special needs to join our programs and we also host special olympics aquatic competitions each year. Our membership structure includes the household which is inclusive of grandparents and guardian or partners overseeing the care of their youth. Youth development and teen leadership. The teens opportunities for growth and achievement club, also known as toga, is an afterschool program that provides care for 12-15 year olds during the afterschool hours. The teens participate in community service activities, tutoring, arts and crafts classes and science skill development experiments. The Ymca develops youth leadership through programs that teach character, values, and enhance selp-esteem using mentors and service learning projects. Ymca teen programs provide youth good role models to help them develop self-esteem and good values, including, cooperation, respect for the body, good citizenship, and a strong work ethic. Teen activities reflect the growing awareness that adolescents need structure and activities, especially in the after-school hours. Interaction with teens may help prevent the senseless violence that has plagued so many of our communities. Aquatic program: the Ymca provides water education instruction, to promote water safety and drowning prevention, for infants six months of age through senior citizens. Over 100 community agencies, churches and schools use the Ymca pool and thousands of dollars in free services are provided. Instructional classes include infant, progressive, and adult classes. The Ymca also provides american red cross certified life-guarding training and american heart association certified cpr training. Additional aquatic programs are provided through agreements with the Kanawha county parks and recreation commission. The Ymca awards scholarships to individuals or families to cover part of the membership dues to access and utilize their facilities. The amount of the scholarship is determined by household income and the number of persons in the household. Every scholarship participant must turn in their prior year's tax forms, their last two pay stubs, food stamps, social security, disability, child support, and any other type of assistance they may receive, such as student loans. The participants are then put into the accounting software with a one year limit. Near the end of the participant's scholarship, they receive a renewal letter reminding them to turn in their financial information again for approval.