By Katie Wagner, Staff Writer
Membership at the Princeton Family YMCA has been decreasing for the past few years, but the organization’s board of directors and staff are making efforts to reverse the trend.
”The reality is there are options here really pretty close by that offer our community’s residents an opportunity to get a good workout,” said Kate Bech, the Princeton Family YMCA’s CEO. “I think that we as a YMCA have to understand that it’s a new landscape than perhaps it was five years ago when pretty much all people had was the YMCA and we have to understand our role in the community.
”We’re not a fitness club,” she added. “We’re all about finding a center for families.”
And shaping the YMCA into what families of the 21st century need is the goal the organization’s board and staff have been striving to achieve through the various changes implemented since the summer.
Ms. Bech herself is an example of one of the recent changes made at the YMCA in that she was just promoted from director of operations to CEO a month ago and has worked at the YMCA for less than a year.
”When I arrived it was evident we had some challenges ahead of us in terms of having our revenues meet if not exceed our expenses,” Ms. Bech said. “There was evidence we had some staffing issues and we just needed to do some basic things right away to help solve the problems.
”Everybody appreciates and understands that this is an older facility, but we’re also aware of the fact that people are accustomed to having a certain level of equipment now and that we also need to keep pace in that respect,” Ms. Bech said. “We’re looking at finding a way to improve the facility in a way that’s meaningful to the members and will attract new members. We’re evaluating the way we’re delivering our programs to make them meaningful for people who live in the community and to continue to build our relationship with the YWCA.”
The Princeton Family YMCA and YWCA Princeton operate out of the same two adjacent buildings at 59 Paul Robeson Place and share several facilities, including a pool, weight room and cardiovascular room.
Forming the Princeton YMCA and YWCA Joint Facilities Planning Group, which had its first meeting in the fall and now meets once a month, is one of the steps the YMCA recently took toward achieving its goals. The group, which is composed of both YMCA and YWCA board members and the CEOs of both Princeton organizations, has been charged with finding ways to figure out how to use the spaces they already share to advance their missions.
Reducing membership fees and expanding member benefits are other changes the YMCA has made that it hopes will bring a rejuvenation of membership, facilities and ability to meet member needs.
In March, the monthly rates for most categories of full facility membership were reduced by $5. Access to additional facilities and services for YMCA male and female program and full-facility members are other benefits the YMCA introduced last month to thank its existing members and to expand its size.
Female members of the YMCA, for example, now have access to the sauna in the women’s locker room and the YWCA’s massage services, both of which were previously reserved for YWCA members. For all male members over 18, the doors of the lower-level locker room have opened. In the past male YMCA members were required to pay higher monthly rates to use the locker room, known as the Mathey Health Center.
Changes have also been made to the staff, including the consolidation of two positions, new hires and a general reorganization of the staff.
Ms. Bech said no final plan has been established for physically improving the YMCA, but that knocking down a wall to bring the cardiovascular machines and weights into a contiguous space, updating workout equipment and making more staff available to assist members with exercises are all being considered.
While the YMCA suffered a deficit last year, it has seen trends in membership over the last few months that Ms. Bech said have given her encouragement that the changes she and her staff have made are already having a positive impact.
