Never Losing Sight Of Our Destination

“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” – Philippians 3:13

This past week, I watched Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Center for Disease Control, give an impassioned speech, imploring the country to adhere to the safety guidelines because of the “impending doom that lurks over us.” Dr. Walensky had served as an intensive care doctor throughout the pandemic and had seen far too many people die alone in the ICU. When she addressed the country, all the pain she experienced seemed to boil over into her message as she begged us to hold the course for just a little while longer. Though she acknowledged there was great hope in the increasing number of people being vaccinated daily, the variant strains of the virus were traveling faster than the vaccines could be delivered. She acknowledged how difficult her message was, both to deliver and to receive. She was well aware of how weary our country is and how hard it is to remain in this restricted state, but she knew it was her duty to deliver the difficult message.

As I listened to Dr. Walensky, I could not help but reflect on Jim Collins and the Stockdale Paradox. Dr. Walensky was delivering the brutal truth – that we are not out of this crisis – but was also still giving hope, stating the promise was not too far ahead. Jim Collins used the story of Admiral Stockdale and his heroic journey of perseverance as a prisoner of war to illustrate the mental discipline required to survive, and ultimately succeed, through a crisis, particularly one of this magnitude. These past few weeks have given us great hope within our Y: membership is slowly increasing; Toko Thompson secured approval for a $4 million loan through the payroll protection program; and Toby Roberts reported we had climbed over the $900,000 mark in our annual campaign. In addition, phase 3 was allowing our Y to expand services to include summer resident camp, as well as increase capacity to serve more members in our community centers. The news has certainly been very positive and much needed for all of us. It has been a long road, but as Dr. Walensky reminded us last week, we are not out of the woods yet – we must stay the course with an unwavering focus and discipline.

This past week, I was reminded of an impact this pandemic has had on our organization that sometimes I forget about – the cost of maintaining our centers and repaying the debt incurred by building these beautiful new centers over the past 15 years. For over 40 years, our Y has operated with a board-driven policy that requires us to generate a net of 15% of total expenses. Pre-COVID, that number was close to $9 million annually, which allowed us to put over $5 million back into our centers, repay over $2 million in debt annually, and put almost $2 million into an emergency fund controlled by the board. This practice has made our Y one of the most successful in the country and put us in a position to be successful well into the future. Though we did not need to borrow during this crisis, the board did have an emergency fund of nearly $9 million to draw upon, if necessary. Having such a fund is exactly why it was created, though no one ever could have imagined we might have needed it for a situation such as this.

Clearly, we were unable to meet the 15% net requirement this past year, and it will be difficult to do so in 2021 as well. Unfortunately, that meant we did not reinvest back into our centers nor meet our obligations with the bank in 2020. Toko meets with the bank frequently, as they are monitoring our circumstances closely; however, they remain confident in our ability to rebuild our operation. We have a long history of success, and the bank believes we will rebuild our organization and be the strong Y we once were for the community. Not reinvesting into our centers, though, is probably something I took for granted. Historically, we have been fortunate to be able to address every repair as it arose. Last year, though, the board suspended all capital projects and, as we discovered, even with operations shut down, our centers needed attention. We are extremely lucky to have such a dedicated and devoted team. They have kept our centers well maintained, even with limited resources. Our Y is in a better place because of their dedication and hard work. Please join me in thanking these heroes of our Y:

A few months into the pandemic, we discovered water damage had occurred both in the annex at the Bremerton Family Y and in the east-facing wall of the Tacoma Center Y. Our insurance policy covered the cost of the annex repairs, but unfortunately did not cover the cost for Tacoma Center, which was due to a flaw dating back to construction completed nearly 40 years ago. Loren informed me the Tacoma Center project should be completed this next week at a final estimated cost of $635,000 (this will be paid out of the emergency fund controlled by the board). In addition to the projects at Bremerton and Tacoma Center, there is a roof repair at the Lakewood Family Y, a roof replacement of the old dining hall at Camp Seymour, and a roof replacement over the pool building at the Bremerton Y. The board is helping to manage each of these projects, recognizing the challenge we face in maintaining our centers and managing the emergency funds. The board has asked staff to conduct a complete assessment of all our centers in order to have a comprehensive understanding of our capital needs. The team of Loren Johnson, Ed Bressette, Toko, the board, and me will work alongside operations to determine the schedule to follow to address the many capital needs we face.

Early on in the pandemic, our board also made the decision to suspend the construction of the Scott and Sis Names Family Y. It was the right decision, given the circumstances, but it had enormous ramifications. We originally made the decision to build a new Y because the Morgan Family Y building had run its course, now reaching 44 years of age. Thinking we were going to break ground in 2020, we held off completing a number of capital projects at that center. It is not clear when we will break ground, maybe it will be 2022 or even 2023 – it all depends on how fast we can rebuild our operations. Loren, Ed, Scott Bower, and the board are closely monitoring the needs of the Morgan Y, and it is a tribute to the longstanding commitment to reinvesting in our centers that the Morgan facility is still able to operate as well as it does. This is a shining example of how important this reinvestment commitment truly is.

This is a huge step for us; it is the first step in our recovery, and we are well underway to rebuilding our Y. I continue to be in awe of how each of you stay the course and remain focused on serving our members, our community, and each other. I have no doubt we will succeed and return our Y to the stature it once was – I know that because of the character of our team. We never lose sight of our destination, and what we are called to do. Thank you for your continued commitment. You are all amazing.

#StayStrong #StayWithUs