In this edition of Us!...
- Training Opportunities for All
- 30 Years of Celebrating Healthy Kids
- Associate Referral Bonus
- Grow Your Y Career
- A Heartfelt Message
- A Strong Volunteer Connection
- Celebrating Talented Y Associates
- Payroll Information
- A Note from John Hoey
Y ASSOCIATE OPPORTUNITIES
Not Just for Mentoring
Throughout the year, several training opportunities are available to support mentors, mentoring relationships, and providers of mentoring programs. While these trainings are geared towards mentoring engagement, the information shared in the trainings can be applied to educators, parents, and anyone sincerely interested in strengthening their relationship with youth.
Our colleague, Lisa Cheeseboro, has shared an upcoming training this month and all Y associates are welcome to participate.
Speaking and Listening: Communication in Mentoring Relationships
April 21, 10:00 - 11:30am
Facilitator: LaVance Gholston and Chloe Bernardi
Overview: In order to develop meaningful relationships with youth, it is essential to demonstrate effective listening and communication skills. Learn the importance of tone, connecting one's words with feelings, how to ask open ended questions, and responding appropriately to increase trust and authenticity.
Y Healthy Kids Day
For 30 years, Healthy Kids Day has been where play is purposeful and fun is for families.
Bring your family to the Y on Saturday, April 30, 10am – 1pm and join us for healthy, fun activities that celebrate kids being kids, including a scavenger hunt, tie dye, games, giveaways, and more!
Y Healthy Kids Day is a FREE community event. No registration necessary.
The Y Associate Referral Program
Do you know someone who would be a qualified candidate for our Y Head Start, Health & Wellness, or our Youth Development teams? If so, refer them to the Y and potentially earn a referral bonus of up to $500 if they are hired!
Click below for participation details and to make an associate referral.
Learn More and Make a Referral
Career Opportunities at the Y
Browse the open positions in Dayforce to see available career growth opportunities.
1. Log into Dayforce (open web browser > Managed Bookmarks > Dayforce)
2. Click the menu icon in the upper left corner and select Careers
3. Scroll through the list or search by job title, keyword, location, or req ID#
Current openings include:
Group Mentoring Manager, Reach and Rise (Req ID #2106)
Swim Director, The Y in Parkville (Req ID #2104)
Various camp positions (search for "Camp")
GOOD VIBES
Subject: From Instructor to Instructor...A Heartfelt Message
From: JenniferOSullivan@ymaryland.org
Hi Everyone,
It's not often instructors message other instructors, so I hope you have a moment to read this email.
I recently had the opportunity to be included in a conversation regarding the Y's Associate Giving Campaign. Until then, I didn't fully understand what set this campaign apart from other fundraising efforts. Through the year, I, probably like you, find ways to support the Y's fundraising events. The Associate Giving Campaign had escaped my attention. It's a little less flashy, perhaps, and personally, I tend to pay attention to member-targeted efforts.
The Associate Giving Campaign is a very visible way we, as associates, as instructors, show how we support the mission of the Y, and Open Doors in particular. Open Doors removes the financial barrier to access Y membership.
For me, I know the Pasadena Y does a fantastic job welcoming EVERYONE through its doors. It's a big reason I choose to teach there. That diversity has changed who has easy, affordable access to yoga classes and the benefits of yoga. That hasn't always been the case for yoga classes in general, and yoga still isn't accessible in many communities. (Studio classes are expensive!) More broadly, I observe members of all ages and demographics enjoy the Pasadena Y as a safe space for health and wellness.
The ability of the Y to meet the broad needs of so many in our community continues to impress me. Open Doors is a big part of that access, a critical way the Y supports well-being, changes habits, health, and lifestyles. Associate Giving directly supports Open Doors, the way barriers to access are knocked down. How did I miss this, something I so firmly believe in?? I know so many of us share this belief. I just didn't connect the dots.
When we give to this particular campaign, it also speaks to our commitment to our service, as associates, to the humans in front of us every time we step to the front of the room. Yes, it's our job to provide fitness instruction, but we can't help but acknowledge we are part of something much bigger, to our shared values of promoting wellness for EVERYONE.
The Y can also recognize us, the instructors, who are some of the most stable and visible associates to the members, as anchors in financial support as it seeks outside donor support. Corporate donors consider and recognize financially invested associates as a benchmark within charitable organizations, and are far more likely to contribute when associates are just as committed to the broader mission, not just punching a clock. It's the snowball effect of generosity, validated from within.
For all these reasons, would you please consider joining the Associate Giving Campaign in whatever way is right for you? I've attached the form so you can send it in. Our combined contributions will add up to so much good. I think we can all agree, the world needs some good right now and there's no better place to start than here at home.
Thank you so much.
Kindly and Sincerely,
Jen
FROM VOLUNTEER TO ASSOCIATE
Submitted by: Shannon Kowal
If there was one thing that could be considered a force multiplier of community building, volunteerism might be it! Lesly (sporting the lovely pink mask) started out as a volunteer with our Michelle Becote-Jackson Y Fresh Mart Food Pantry at the Y in Druid Hill, but now you can find her working the fitness floor as a Y associate! We're always ecstatic when volunteers return for different projects, but when they apply to work for the Y -- that's a testament to our great organization!
Thank you for all you do, Lesly. We couldn't do it without you!
Y Associate Shout Outs
We have some great Associate Shout Outs today, all of which show how Y associates are the engine of our Y. I hope you enjoy reading them!
Click the blue "Shout Out" icon to read about Charmika Burton, Dean Doubek, Tawanda Ford, Ashley Johnson, and Kathleen Murphy.
Your outstanding teammates deserve recognition! Please take a moment to nominate one of your colleagues so we can give them a Shout Out in the next Us! associate enewsletter.
COMMUNITY COMMENTS
The good work you do doesn't go unnoticed. Enjoy reading these real comments from our Y community and soak in the praise!
River, The Y Preschool at UMBC
"The teachers are very knowledgeable and caring. My granddaughter has grown so much as a person and a student. As an educator, I am very impressed with the Y Preschool at UMBC."
Katharine, The Weinberg Y in Waverly
“I recently started back after COVID-19 and I was pleasantly surprised by how friendly and helpful the front desk associates were to me. I felt very welcome!"
Connor, Y Camp at the Y in Pasadena
“My granddaughter loved her time at camp. She met new friends and liked her counselors. She can’t wait to go back for another week."
Hawa, School Partnerships - New Horizons II at the Y in Druid Hill
"I am grateful that the Y is educating our young people in Baltimore City on what it takes to get a job, and how the Y is maturing our youth about the importance of being productive human beings and how to become productive adults."
WE NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU!
The Us! associate enewsletter is published every other Thursday or Friday and we need to hear from you! Share your stories, what’s new in your Y world, and what you are proud of. We want to know and we want to share your news! The submission deadline is Fridays at 5pm.
RESOURCES, POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Get Paid!
Pay Period: 4/10/22 to 4/23/22
Pay Date: 5/3/22
Payroll Adjustments Due: April 22, 2022 5pm
Timesheets Locked: April 25, 2022 5pm
Direct Deposits/Tax Changes Due: April 26, 2022 5pm
Click the button for more information and to make sure you get paid.
OUR WORK TOGETHER
Dear Colleagues,
You know that sensation when “something is right under your nose” but you fail to see it? Sometimes I think that because the Y mission and our work together is so much a part of our everyday lives, it can be easy to overlook or under-appreciate the true importance of the social enterprise in which we are collectively engaged. But when you really think about it, the time and effort we put into fundraising and finding grants to support our work is really all about equity and access for all. We raise funds to support Y Open Doors because that’s fundamental to being a mission driven organization that refuses to accept income as a barrier to belonging to the Y community.
This is the theme of a wonderful email written by Y yoga instructor Jennifer O’Sullivan, who works at the Y in Pasadena. Her email, which is provided above, articulates perfectly why the Y’s cause is worth investing in. Though she writes it about and to other Y fitness instructors, her message is universal.
I hope you were as inspired by Jennifer’s words as I am. If you would like to give to the Y associate campaign and have not yet had a chance to do so, you can give a one-time donation of any size or ongoing through payroll deduction here: Associate Giving Pledge Form.
Every bit counts and adds to what we already know: Y associates are the most generous and caring group of people on the planet. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you do every single day to show that.
All the best,
John K. Hoey
President & CEO
The Y in Central Maryland