The Y turns two

The Shelton Family YMCA opened March 1, 2021, and it is continuing to grow with each passing year.

YMCA Senior Director Claudia Suastegui has been with the Shelton YMCA since September, but has worked for the YMCA for at least 20 years.

"I moved here from a larger YMCA association in Idaho, and this association has been like a breath of fresh air because every association has a different community," Suastegui said. "It is so small so you can deepen relationships with people here and you immerse yourself in the community and have access to resources and information and people and so it's really fulfilling since I've been here."

What attracted Suastegui to Shelton was the outdoor recreation and the opportunity to experience a new community. She enjoys working for the YMCA because it aligns with her values, including its stance on social justice.

"I think it's important understanding the demographics and having the people that represent that demographic so everybody feels welcome," Suastegui said. "Representation, it's a big deal."

Shelton YMCA Youth and Family Director Steve Galka said he loves the sense of community the YMCA has.

"The Y members, people who are drawn to the Y, just do tremendous things in their community," Galka said. "Those people, that are the shakers and the movers, I feel, when you come to the Y and once you walk through the doors everybody has the same value. Everybody is equal. It doesn't matter what your capabilities are, what you look like, what your size is, I've never seen anyone, maybe once or twice in my whole career, where somebody gets made fun of. That just doesn't happen. Everyone just accepts everyone and loves everyone."

Suastegui wanted to combine her passions of fitness and helping people, and that led her to a career with the YMCA. She said at the two-year anniversary that the Shelton YMCA is growing.

"There's tons of stories about the impact of having access to swim lessons, their kids learned to swim for the first time and now they have confidence in school," Suastegui said. "Kids have a safe place to be and if they're out and about and they get in trouble, they come to the Y because there is a trusting adult here to help support them. I think the community is learning about what the Y is and we've had the highest usage since we've opened and so we're continuing to add programs and just be of service to the community."

Some of the programs that are most successful are the Youth Experience Program, which gives a child a new experience every 30 days. It is $10 per month to participate and grown to 50 kids registering per month, according to Suastegui. Some of the more popular experiences are basketball, gymnastics, dance and homeschool physical education. Teen Night has also been successful, peaking at around 100 kids on one night.

The community partnerships have been vital to help the YMCA grow, including with Mason Health and Peninsula Credit Union. The YMCA has hosted COVID-19 vaccination clinics in partnership with Mason Health. The YMCA joined with the South Mason Youth Soccer Club for its Touch a Truck program in the summer.

The YMCA has also hosted an Easter egg hunt and a Halloween party that each drew more than 200 people. It also changed its pricing for the Shelton YMCA to match the abilities of the community.

Galka said attendance has grown since opening, and it shows by the amount of people using the facility in the mornings.

"The mornings, like now you come in at 10 o'clock and there's a good 30 to 50 people in here," Galka said. "Even like a year ago, it was like four to eight. The mornings and the evenings, we've extended our hours to 9 o'clock. We have more people here in the evening and the membership rate is gradually just climbing. Pickleball was here this morning and everybody else was snowed in and there's 12 to 14 pickleball players here at 10 in the morning."

Like Suastegui, Galka also started going to the YMCA when he was living in Idaho.

"I hung out at the Y all the time. It was the place where I went and worked out at and all my friends I met were at the Y, mainly members. That was when I was young, I hung out at the YMCA in Alaska and Bellevue, Washington, hung out there for three years," Galka said. "Then when I moved to Boise, that was the first place I went to because that was the place I always felt comfortable and connected and accepted, so it was the first thing I did when I went to Boise was got a membership at the Y.

"After you're playing basketball long enough, someone is going ask you to ref because they were always short refs and once I got reffing, wow, this is too much fun. Get to hang out with kids and basketball, so it kind of pulled me in and I did a bunch of other stuff there and here I am."

Galka was also attracted to Shelton because of its outdoor recreation opportunities.

More than 20 years later, Suastegui and Galka said they still enjoy working for the YMCA.

"It's our passion. When we see, like Claudia talked about the stories, when we see the impact it makes on people, that's what makes it worthwhile and makes every day great," Galka said. "When you see someone in here hit a milestone, whether it's a personal record or just someone who comes in and spends 45 minutes or an hour doing their best, sometimes that's not recognized. But just seeing people with their everyday lives and stuggles and they come in here and they're successful, and to see them leave in a better place emotionally and spiritually, that's why the Y is so great."

Suastegui said the YMCA energizes people.

"You could be having the worst day personally and you walk through the door and it's like, I'm so happy to be here today," Suastegui said. "It's important for that culture because we're supporting people that are struggling in their life sometimes and they come in here for hope. It's that we're 100% here to help you so we kind of have to do that and when you start feeling it yourself, you know that you're in the best place."

Suastegui said the hope for the Shelton YMCA is growth and new community partnerships. The YMCA will be getting Women Infants and Children services soon, which will run out of the YMCA through the hospital.

"Being available, we're limited by capacity so there's not a lot that we can do, more than what we have, but really trying to listen to our community and decide on what programs to add based on that so that we stay relevant and keep engagement with the community in that way," Suastegui said. "I don't know what's in the works but there's lots of things that we want, just in the facility, changes in the facility, a bigger pool. We all want that but with that comes the need to raise money, which is cool because our annual campaign is coming up. It's going to be the month of March and so we'll be going out in the community, fundraising, sharing our story a little bit more so we can get that sustained support."

Every month, there is a day the community can go to the YMCA for free. For more information, go to http://www.southsoundymca.org/shelton-ymca.

Author Bio

Matt Baide, Reporter

Shelton-Mason County Journal & Belfair Herald
Email: [email protected]

• Email: [email protected]