YMCA of San Diego County and the San Diego Foundation bring summer camp to low-income families
05/09/20
A YMCA summer camp program for youth from low-income families was
announced Saturday by San Diego County Supervisor Nathan
Fletcher.
The program will provide childcare for parents
who are going back to work during the coronavirus pandemic as more
businesses reopen, said James Canning, Fletcher spokesman.
A $1 million grant from The San Diego Foundation's COVID-19
Community Response Fund will support the initiative, Canning
said.
"As a parent, I understand it will not be easy
for parents to go back to work without viable and safe childcare
options," said Fletcher, co-chair of the county's COVID-19
subcommittee. "As we gradually open up our economy, single parent
households and working families are going to need more support with
watching their kids while they are at work. This new partnership is
one way we're doing it."
The partnership includes the YMCA of San Diego County, one of the
largest summer camp providers in the county, and is accredited by the
American Camping Association, Canning said.
Details about
how to sign up for camp scholarships, the locations and dates will be
announced soon, Canning said.
At a news conference
Saturday outside the Jackie Robinson Family YMCA in southeastern San
Diego, Fletcher was joined by Mark Stuart, president and CEO of the
San Diego Foundation, and Baron Herdelin-Doherty, president and CEO of
YMCA of San Diego County.
"As a direct result of
this support from Supervisor Fletcher and the San Diego Foundation,
the YMCA will be able to get summer camp up and running more
quickly," Herdelin-Doherty said. "We're working through this
new normal and finalizing the details of how to reopen our doors and
run summer camp in the safest way possible."
"To get San Diegans back to work and start our economic recovery,
workers must have safe, accessible, affordable childcare," Stuart
said. "Thank you Supervisor Fletcher for recognizing this vital
need, and to YMCA San Diego County for providing this critical program
so local families can start rebuilding their lives."
Getting the little ones out of the house as parents work from home
can be a challenge, especially as students do distance learning.
“I think that's the biggest struggle that we're all feeling, is
that we're trying to do too many things at the same time and feeling
like we're not doing any of them very well, so it will be a huge
blessing if the Y is able to re-open for summer camp,” said Laura
Lavoie, mother of two young boys.
Lavoie says she
recently took a YMCA survey about camps, where she responded, “please
do open them if you can do it safely because we just need to have
space for our kids to run around.”
Lavoie’s son Luke has
gone to YMCA camp two years in a row and could go again.
Opening up summer camps comes as the City and County will direct $10
million in federal stimulus funding to provide childcare for essential
workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
As for how will
the Summer Camp safely work, Herdelin-Doherty said, "We'll have
smaller groups of campers, there will be stabilized groups with no
intermingling.”
The YMCA plans to open multiple sites
across the county soon, as the summer program historically is the
single largest provider of childcare services during the summer.
"We’ll be disinfecting and have advanced handwashing
stations and health checks provided,” said Herdelin-Doherty.
Jake Christensen, a father of two young boys and North Park
resident says families simply need more summer camp options.
"They're tugging at my legs when I'm trying to get some
work done so It's a bit of a challenge, but I’m used to it,”
Christensen said.
San Diego County officials amended
their public health orders last week for schools and childcare to ease
restrictions as parents head back to work.