First Full Week at the Wang YMCA

Our first full week at the Wang YMCA in Chinatown was very promising and exciting. After a somewhat slow previous week, during which we were unable to make as much progress as we would have liked, I was anxious to meet everyone at the Wang and learn more about their programs. Monday morning, after rallying at the Sport in Society office with the whole team, Frank and I set out for Chinatown to attend our first staff meeting at the Wang. It was great to finally meet some of the staff, though a few people were out sick, and we immediately felt welcomed by everyone and encouraged to share our thoughts. During the staff meeting we discussed some of our goals and did a quick survey of what people felt the needs of the youth programs are.

After the staff meeting we had an extremely productive meeting with the out of school time director in which we were able to gain a lot of information about the needs of her programs and the type of kids coming into the Wang on a regular basis. This meeting presented us with a lot of challenges that the Wang is facing and energized me to begin getting to work to create partnerships and programming to help meet the needs of the Y and its youth. I was also encouraged by the attitude of the out of school time director who was thrilled to have us on board and really understood our mission and role as capacity builders.

Tuesday brought two more insightful meetings, one with the director of the PE programs that the Wang runs for the Quincy Upper School, and the other with a young staff member who runs an enrichment program for 13 Quincy students on Wednesday afternoons (students have a half day every Wednesday) called Stay in Play. Through both of these meetings we were able to gain even deeper insight into the needs of the Wang and the youth that they serve. Both the PE director and the Stay in Play facilitator were happy to hear our ideas and share their own ideas and challenges.

Over all Frank and I came away from this week with a strong understanding of the basic needs of the Wang. The three challenges most often shared with us were the need for more space, more funds, and more staff members. Throughout the week we have been brainstorming creative solutions and partnerships to each of these challenges, as well as others, such as how to get the girls who go into the Y to participate more. I am very excited to get started on forging partnerships with local community organizations and implementing new initiatives! Overall we were able to carry out a successful needs assessment, which in and of its self is positive, but by far the best part of my week was helping out with the Stay in Play program on Wednesday afternoon.

During the Stay in Play program I was able to get to know some of the sixth graders who attend the Quincy Upper School. They are smart, funny, and overall good kids who when given the opportunity have a lot to say. I was impressed with their thoughts during the structured portion of the afternoon when they discussed gender stereotypes. Two kids taught me how to play the card game “Big 2,” which they said is a Chinatown staple, and I’m looking forward to practicing more next week so I don’t lose every game! I was also able to spend time in the gym with the kids where I played badminton, another game that is popular in the Chinatown community.

I’m looking forward to another great week when we can really begin implementing positive changes!