This week gives us the opportunity to celebrate two different events, which are technically unrelated but both of which are very connected to our mission, values and strategy.
During Welcoming Week, Ys across the country celebrate the incredible diversity of our nation by promoting cross-cultural understanding and raising awareness of the benefits of welcoming and including everyone in our Ys and our communities. Y members get to affix a star on a map of the world that corresponds with their nation of origin. They also get the opportunity to fill out a card that says, “I feel like I belong when _______.”
Welcoming Week is tailor-made for the Y’s strategy of creating a deeper sense of belonging, inclusion and well-being throughout the community through Y membership. It recognizes that creating a powerful sense of belonging is core to the Y’s work and purpose. Communities are at their best when people feel included in and not estranged from the broader group. If you happen to notice a proliferation of green stars on the little spec of soil called Ireland on maps across our region, then you probably can track my travels of late…
This week is also Community Schools Coordinator Appreciation Week, an opportunity to recognize and celebrate some of the most talented and resourceful folks you’ll ever meet. Our Y school partnerships team supports 62 Community Schools in the greater Baltimore region, impacting approximately 35,000 students and their families. Schools located in neighborhoods of extreme poverty are eligible to become Community Schools, which enables added support to address a wide range of issues that prevent children from learning and thriving. A Y Community Schools Coordinator or Director is stationed in 23 schools in Baltimore City, while we act as a consultant to Baltimore County Public Schools as they implement the Community Schools model in 39 of their schools. Working with the principal, families and other community stakeholders, our Y Community Schools team facilitates fundamental support for students, such as access to food, proper clothing and school supplies, after-school programs (which we will generally run) and other support that enables students to do what they came to school for in the first place, which is to learn.
Our Y’s commitment to Community Schools work is really about our fundamental commitment to help young people and their families thrive, and to introduce those living in poverty and isolation to a network of caring people and organizations that can help remove the seemingly endless barriers they face in climbing out of poverty and troubled circumstances. The Y, at its core, is a community itself and one that works to integrate all of our many programs and services such that we are creating one diverse, inclusive community. It’s hard work, but given our unique scale and depth of programs, associates and commitment, work that we’re uniquely positioned to do.
To learn more or to see a list of Y Community Schools, please click here.
All the best,
John K. Hoey
President & CEO
The Y in Central Maryland