The meeting was kicked off with a video from pastor Clark Bosher, who could not be there that night, welcoming everyone to the church and saying how he was excited to see a YMCA in Willow Park.
“The YMCA is about faith, it’s about family, it’s about finances, and it’s about physical fitness,” Bosher said.
Congressman Roger Williams, who has been working with Bosher to contact YMCA and move this plan forward, also spoke at the meeting. He reminisced about his own start with the Y and said how he believes this will be a life-changing opportunity for children who wouldn’t otherwise get the opportunities the facility would provide.
He said that not only will this YMCA be great for the community socially, but it will also be great of the community economically with bringing more job opportunities to the area.
“This is the perfect community for it,” he said. “We got the perfect spot. I just I was talking to our YMCA friends, and they visualize 100 jobs we can bring to this community.”
The new YMCA would be opening in the old Willow Park Baptist Church location, or the so-called “blue roof building” according to Mike Brown, the YMCA Metro Fort Worth CEO. He introduced himself to the audience and said how his whole life has been impacted by the Y for the better, even saving his life when he attempted suicide in high school. It was the YMCA and the message behind it that let him find his own path in life again, and what has pushed him forward through hardships.
“Our mission says to put Christian principles into practice through programs, services, and relationships that build a healthy spirit, mind, and body for all,” Brown said.
He showed an initial draft of what the location would look like, including two aquatic areas such as a pool and a play zone, outdoor fields and miniature pitches for games like pickleball, and much more located in the building itself, such as potentially the largest wellness center in the branch. He said that the next steps are to raise the funds needed to buy the building and talking with the community about what their needs are so the facilities can reflect them.
“Every community I’ve been in for the last thirty years, it really does depend on what the community wants,” he said. “We are a nonprofit, but that doesn’t mean no profit. It means that our resources go right back to the community. We hope to have more conversations and ask, ‘How do we make this happen and who wants to be involved?’”
Following Brown, Eddie Dobbins, COO of YMCA Metro Fort Worth, spoke and said in his 40 years with YMCA this is the most exciting opportunity in front of him. He talked about how not only is the YMCA a fitness center, but a social one, especially for seniors, and how there could be different programs at the facility, including culinary and automotive, because if there was a need, they wanted to figure out how to provide it.
“When you think of that that blue top building, you think of what it is you want,” Dobbins said. “But here’s the beautiful thing: as we move forward, you get to help us decide what’s going to be in there. Again, it doesn’t have to look like anybody else’s YMCA.”
Jennifer Melson, vice president of development and the final speaker from YMCA Metro Fort Worth, spoke about how the community can engage with the process. Some ways include donations of resources to buy the building and hire staff, seeing who would be able to volunteer in the programs, and if they’re a business, seeing how the Y can partner with them to provide services with those resources as well.
“We don’t need anyone to give everything, but we need everyone to give something,” Melson said.
After the presentation the floor opened for members of the community to ask questions about the facility. One major one was about when the public would be able to use this new YMCA, Brown said it mostly depends on when they can get the money to buy the building and start the renovation process, which typically takes 18 months. What matters now is getting the donations and pledges for funding the project.
“If somebody names the building, if somebody names the gymnasium, or names the welcome center, or a teen center, those dollars can immediately be used to renovate the space and get started,” Brown said.
Along with community members, local officials from both Willow Park were in attendance, including Willow Park Mayor Teresa Palmer. She said that Willow Park is very excited to have the YMCA come to their city and it will be great to not have to travel into Fort Worth for these facilities and instead have them close by.
“This isn’t just a building. It’s a place where families will gather, and the children will learn to grow,” Palmer said. “And for us adults, seniors right here, I think it’s exciting for us to have a place to work out.”
Aledo Mayor Shane Davis was also at the meeting and said he’s excited to see how much this is going to help the community. He currently owns the Aledo Athletic Club and said that he isn’t worried about losing business to the YMCA and instead sees it as a partnership. He also said that he’s interested in the volunteering aspect because someday he won’t be in politics, but he will still wants to help his community.
“That’s what’s so exciting about it to me,” Davis said. “I’m a hospitality person. I love to interact with people. I love to get people to interact with each other.”
Cherie Long, an Aledo mom who homeschools her children, said she’d be interested in using the meeting rooms and community spaces for the weekly meetings of the other homeschooled children in the community, with ages ranging from 4 to 18. She said it has been getting difficult to find the best place to accommodate their group, so it would be great if they’re able to use the YMCA.
“It would be classroom space, a lunch space, and a community space where we could separate all the kids out into the different areas to go over to review the to review their lessons,” she said.
After the meeting, Brown and Dobbins said they were excited with the turnout of the event, and the initial conversations they were able to have with attendants were good for learning some of the things the community needs in the facility. Some of those include opportunities for people with special needs, which Dobbins said he was asked about afterward, and he wants to make sure everyone has a place.
“It is our mission to make sure folks feel strong to put their hand up in the room because we like to make sure that everybody knows their voice is super loud at the Y,” he said.
Brown said he can see how much the community wants to dive in, but stressed the importance of first raising the funds needed for the building so that the process of getting an architect and renovations started can start.
“The Y can make the operation work and sustain it for years. We have to have the community build it,” he said.
For more information, updates, and further opportunities to submit their own ideas and needs from the facility, Melson said that the Parker County YMCA Project group on Facebook is open for the public to join.
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