Stronger Together
2022 Impact Report
YMCA of Greater Halifax/Dartmouth
Dear YMCA Friends,
2022 was a year of recovery for our YMCA, and we became stronger because of the deep roots we’ve grown in community working alongside partners and donors who understand the impact of the Y. With over 100 community partners, we have taken big strides in strengthening and broadening our impact in our communities.
Much of our work directly responded to the most urgent needs our communities are facing. We introduced new YMCA wellness programs geared towards supporting community members managing chronic illness and disease through YMCA LiveWell, along with youth resilience programs to help youth manage their mental health and remain academically engaged.
We developed a new Annual Campaign, “Everyone Has a Story”, and not only did we achieve our fundraising goal, we doubled it. Funds raised through this campaign supported much-needed YMCA programs and services, eliminating barriers, and ultimately impacting thousands of lives.
In partnership with the Province of NS, Government of Canada, and community partners, our Immigrant Services Team supported more than 1,300 war-displaced Ukrainian Nationals entering Nova Scotia. We connected over 30,000 individuals to opportunities through our Employment Services. Online and in person our team helped assist clients in navigating our precarious labour market.
In 2023, we are striving to create healthier and more equitable communities. We look forward to all that we will achieve, and it is clear that our impact is stronger together.
Thank you for joining us in caring for our community,
Sonya Fraser
Chair, Board of Directors
Brian Posavad
President & CEO
Message from our Board Chair
and President & CEO
Board of Directors
Senior Leadership Team
Honourary Trustees & Life Members
*Participants includes all YMCA members and clients. It captures our programs' cumulative reach during the year.
Impact at a glance
YMCA programs and services operate in over 100 locations
1,583 people received financial assistance
46,178 participants*
across HRM and Nova Scotia
totaling approx. $370,000
2,473 campers
YMCA Camps
6,500 newcomers
YMCA Immigrant Services
Youth Leadership Programs
522 youth
9 centres serving 303 children
over 30,000 clients
Child Care
Employment Services
6,380 members
Health & Fitness
Made possible by:
313 Donors
421 Staff
100+ Volunteers
$1,344,470 in funding
from Grants and Foundations
The challenge:
Nova Scotia has one of the highest rates of chronic disease and disability in Canada.
solution:
YMCA LiveWell bridges the gap to link health care to community exercise programs in 6 locations across Nova Scotia.
YMCA LiveWell is a group exercise program that focuses on improving the physical health of Nova Scotians with chronic conditions.
YREACH
Employment Services
YMCA School Settlement
camper, she hadn’t worked with kids before. She also wasn’t sure what to expect as a transgender person.
Allison May (she/her), known as Allie, is a true extrovert; she values the people in her life, and she loves being around people. So much so that she envisions a future career that empowers her to continue being around people. People that know her would describe her as charismatic, generous, and she says she does the best she can in every situation. When she’s not spending time with people, she can be found outside taking walks or drawing in a local coffee shop.
Her first trip to Big Cove Camp was back in 2013. Every year, her cousins came home from the United States, and they wanted to make connections with people in the area, so to Big Cove they went as a family. Allie thought being outside at camp for a week seemed like a fun way to spend time with her family. But it wasn’t until nine years later when she came back to camp as a leader that she truly understood the magic of camp.
“It was the first time I felt genuinely welcomed,” says Allie, when speaking of camp staff, Ben and Alex. The team immediately made Allie feel safe, welcome, and accepted, and that was a feeling she passed along to other campers.
hen Allie was offered a job at YMCA Big Cove Camp as a Camp Counsellor, she felt very nervous. While she was a past Big Cove
One of Allie's favourite camp memories was her first outtrip as a Camp Counsellor. Outtrip is a 10-day trip that’s part of the leadership program, campers go on a canoe excursion led by Camp Counsellors and spend 10 days camping in the woods. They learn skills like cooking, canoeing, pitching tents, making a fire, and maintaining your camp site. During outtrip there are no showers, no technology, and not everyone has an instant connection to the outside world.
“One of my favourite moments was when our outtrip group were sitting around the campfire in a circle, chatting about our lives and some kids opened up about their feelings and emotions. It was a lovely experience we had together. My colleagues and I were with them for a month that summer. After the trip, they shared how much I meant to them. I don’t think they realized how much they meant to me.”
Allie wants parents and kids to know that “Camp can change the trajectory of a life. Having the opportunity to give someone a camp experience who may not have had it, giving them a week with amazing counsellors and a week of fun. It opens doors and new mindsets. It’s the beginning of a big butterfly effect.”
Investing in community
The Community YMCA has been a pillar in the North End community for over
70 years; a cornerstone for our African Nova Scotian community. It's a warm and inviting centre of community that boasts some of the best basketball in the province, provides after-school childcare that families in the area depend on, and offers events and programming focusing on youth empowerment and leadership development. The most important thing about a place like the Community YMCA, is that it’s a safe, dependable place of community, where you feel like you belong.
The Impact of COVID-19
Young people have experienced multiple shocks since the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic, including education disruption, employment and income loss, mental health challenges, social isolation and loss of leadership or mentorship opportunities. The rate of young people not in employment, education, or training, rose to 24% in Canada in April 2020; the highest measured in the past 2 decades. While all youth have been affected, we know Black, Indigenous and racialized youth, youth living with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ and other marginalized youth have been disproportionately impacted.
In response to this, and thanks to our generous funders: Employment and Social Development Canada: Black Communities Initiative, Community Foundations of Canada: Healthy Communities Initiative, Halifax Youth Foundation,
The Windsor Foundation, The Krista Grant Foundation, the Province of Nova Scotia and Public Health Agency of Canada, in 2021 and 2022 we've
to update, modernize and expand our youth programming at the Centre.
This investment supported the creation of three new youth spaces. Our new main lobby and reception area for after school drop-in activities and home to our Y-EATS program, a beautiful space with desks at the back of the centre for youth to participate in youth leadership programs, and a quiet learning space upstairs for privacy and homework support. It has also allowed us to grow our programming in the area of Youth Leadership Development.
YMCA Youth Transitions Program supports young people experiencing the greatest barriers and at the highest risk of disengaging from school.
Y Mind is an innovative, youth informed, early intervention program that helps teens and young adults manage stress and anxiety.
The Community YMCA continues to provide a place for young people to engage in meaningful activities that support and nurture self-determination, academic persistence and preparedness, encourage educational aspirations and resiliency, teach employability skills and promote physical and mental health.
invested a total of $1,062,000 into the Community YMCA
Thank you to our inspiring donors
For helping us build brighter futures across Nova Scotia.
We’ve known that given the opportunity, people across Halifax and Nova Scotia could live happier, healthier lives, and find a sense of belonging in their communities.
We couldn’t be more grateful to our incredible donors for investing in our YMCA’s programs, and the safe and welcoming places needed to deliver them.
Thanks to the hundreds of community members who believed in our “Everyone Has a Story” Campaign, our YMCA was able to meet our goal of raising $100,000, with a matching gift of $100,000, to double our impact and sustain our charitable programs and services!
We invite you to watch our lifelong donor, Ginny Salsman, tell her Y Story in our 2022 Gratitude Report.
The challenge:
According to Statistics Canada crowdsourcing initiative, youth participants were the most likely to report a negative impact on their mental health since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Almost two-thirds (64%) of those aged 15 to 24 reported a negative impact of the pandemic on their mental health, while just over one-third (35%) of those aged 65 and older reported a negative impact on their mental health since physical distancing began. Similarly, those participants aged 15 to 24 were most likely (41%) to report symptoms consistent with moderate or severe anxiety in the early months of the pandemic.
Statistics Canada and Children First Canada. School closures and COVID-19: Interactive Tool. (May 3, 2021)
solution:
Y Mind is an innovative, youth informed, early intervention program that helps teens and young adults manage stress and anxiety. Y Mind helps young people cope with anxiety and improve their sense of well-being by introducing them to evidence-based tools and connecting them with others.
What's Next?
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
Double the number of people receiving financial support, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to participate in YMCA programs and services
Youth Empowerment
Deliver innovative youth-led programming that addresses mental health and educational resilience
Health & Wellbeing
Double the number of Community Health programs being delivered in our communities
Get in touch with us!
@YMCAHD
YMCA of Greater Halifax/Dartmouth
YMCA Association Services
5657 Spring Garden Rd.
Park Lane Terraces, Suite 700
Halifax, NS B3J 3R4
Charitable Registration No.
136 560 760 RR0001
