YMCA of Orange County 2018 Annual Report

2018 was a year of change and growth. We added the cities of Orange, Villa Park and Anaheim Hills to the YMCA of Orange County service area resulting in 4 new child care locations with ongoing discussions for adding more. In addition, we added 1 child care site in Pomona and 4 additional sites in Orange County. A partnership with the Orange County Department of Education was also secured providing the opportunity for our Y to implement a new “CLASS” (Classroom Assessment Scoring System) program. CLASS is a learning tool for teachers in early learning programs which uses research-driven insights to improve how teachers interact with children every day to cultivate supportive, educational, and engaging classroom experiences. We have also extended our youth sports classes and programs to serve the Rancho Mission Viejo community. This booming new master planned community in South Orange County has more than 13,000 households who will now have access to our Y programs right in their own neighborhood. A very generous gift of $1.4 million dollars from the Dale L. Dykema Trust and Dale L. Dykema & Sandra J. Dykema Family Trust provided an opportunity to serve even more children and families who would not otherwise be able to afford access to our child care services and sporting programs. The Dykema family’s dedication and passion for the Y will be missed, but his legacy of compassion will be with us forever. While we are proud and excited about all the accomplishments from this year, I would say my biggest joy comes from the staff. This year we worked diligently with our staff to learn and begin to live a values-based culture. A culture of honesty, responsibility, caring and respect. We dug deep into what each of these values means not only to the Y, but to them as individuals. We are working to instill these values to ensure our staff has the ability to live a passionate and purposeful life and be a positive role model to those we serve. I am inspired each day by the work we do, the staff who do it and the support you provided. Thank you, President/CEO