YMCA of Greenville 2015 Success Stories

FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT FOR HEALTHY LIVING FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 速

Thanks To You...

The YMCA of Greenville can share these stories of success!

We’re More Than A Gym...

We’re a Cause!

We’re about engaging youth and nurturing their potential.

We’re about leading the way to healthier communities.

We’re about supporting our neighbors.

LeAndrea

Photography by: Jean Shifrin, shifrinphotography.com Š

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LeAndrea first heard about Youth in Government from a mentor in another program when she was in middle school, and decided to give it a try in middle school.

LeAndrea drew on her personal experience and home life – which included a number of friends and neighbors who had been through the foster care system – to write her first bill. It was a bill that would require the state Family Court system and the Department of Social Services to look for extended family members before placing a child in the foster care system.

The bill passed, and she was awarded Best Bill. Now a student at Carolina High School, LeAndrea continues to participate in YIG, and will serve as a Committee Chair this year.

LeAndrea plans to go to college, and she believes YIG has given her the confidence to pursue that dream.

Jim

Jim worked out three times a week for eight months before he had an opportunity to lay sod and see how he improved. This time, he budgeted four days to lay six palettes of sod — but he completed all the work in a single day!

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Jim knew it was time to do some work on his fitness level when he set out to lay two palettes of sod and couldn’t even make it through a half palette before tiring out. Jim started working with a personal trainer at the George I. Theisen Family YMCA who designed customized routines for him on the treadmill, elliptical machine and weight bench.

Jim was so excited with his new fitness level that he expanded his physical activity to include many of the group hikes the George I. Theisen Y organizes in the mountains of the Upstate.“Once I start, I keep going!”

Jim said. “Thanks to the Y I am hiking, weightlifting, and doing cardio.”

Lou

“That day was one of the best days of my life,” Lou said.

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In January of 2014, Lou knew he needed to make a lifestyle change.

He was more overweight than he’d ever been and had a family history of diabetes, which played a role in his father’s premature death. When he was selected to participate in a 12-week weight-loss program that’s an annual collaboration between the YMCA of Greenville and a local radio station, Lou made it his goal to lose 35 pounds and run a 5K race in under 30 minutes. The day he walked into the Verdae YMCA to begin the program, Lou was excited, but afraid of failing. The encouragement and warmth of the YMCA staff helped ease his fears. Lou said, “They made me feel very comfortable and at home.” Lou worked out at the YMCA five to six days each week, and learned how to make more nutritious dietary choices that still appealed to his taste buds. In the end, Lou lost more than 45 pounds and lowered his blood pressure substantially. He ran the 5K in 26:43.

Austin

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As a freshman at J.L. Mann Academy Austin participated in Teen Achievers, but was shy and reserved at first. Over time, though, Austin became a standout in the program. He was always engaged at each session, giving careful thought to each workshop topic.

At the end of the year, a program volunteer awarded Austin a Nook tablet for his outstanding participation and behavior in the club. Austin said that honor was “inspirational and life-changing.� Now in his sophomore year, with the knowledge and skills he learned through Teen Achievers, Austin continues to be a successful student at J.L. Mann.

Sophia

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A typical day for 14-year-old Sophia includes waking up her two brothers, ages 8 and 10, and helping them get ready for school. In the evening she often makes their dinner, as well. Sophia’s father is absent; her mother struggles to hold down a job and maintain structure at home.

But for one week, Sophia left behind her role as sister-parent and had the opportunity to just be herself with other girls her age at YMCA Camp Greenville. Sophia described that week as the best week of her life. She participated in activities like swimming, hiking and art projects, and plain old girl talk with new friends. Sophia loved her counselors, too.

It was the week of a lifetime—a chance for Sophia to take a break from her unstable home life and just enjoy being a kid.

Taylor

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Taylor’s grandparents gained custody of him when he was 4 years old.

Over the last seven years, his grandparents worked hard to ensure Taylor had opportunities to participate in his community. “Never in our wildest dreams did we think we would be raising a grandchild,” said Taylor’s grandfather, Frank. “Even though it’s a joyful time, the financial struggles to keep him involved in the community have pushed us to the limit.” Thanks to an Open Doors Scholarship, Taylor has been able to attend Camp Greenville for the past four years, during a critical time of transition from child to young man. Taylor’s experience at camp enabled him to become more outgoing, and made it easier for him to make new friends at school and in the community. Camp also taught him the value of trying new experiences, and helped him learn about the natural world around him. His grandfather said, “Camp Greenville has given him a place to be himself, be part of a community, and be able to make lifelong friends in a cherished environment.”

Dan

“We are truly blessed by this loving and caring community!”

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Toward the end of 2013, back-to-back colds sent Dan to the doctor for a chest scan, which led to a devastating diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer.

Dan, a non-smoker, learned that the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes, bones and back – he was in for the fight of his life. He underwent intense chemotherapy and went into remission, but continues physical therapy. Dan said the George I. Theisen Family YMCA has been a blessing to his family, providing a place where he can maintain his health through the Wellness Works program. In addition, his wife, Rebecca, participates in Zumba and yoga classes, and his 6-year-old son plays soccer and attends summer camp at the Y. Dan and Rebecca, said,

Bruce

A year later, Bruce is not on his medication anymore, and continues to eat healthy and exercise at the Y regularly.

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Bruce has had diabetes for the last 15 years, and has primarily depended on medication to manage it. After being a member of the Eastside Family YMCA for eight years, Bruce decided in 2013 that it was time to make a dramatic change in his journey toward healthier mind, body and spirit.

He began focusing more intentionally on exercising regularly and making smart eating choices, incorporating his doctor’s advice and researching good nutrition.

Kathy

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Kathy is a single mother who works while also attending Clemson University to earn an MBA. Although she is working towards her goal of an improved quality of life for herself and her two children, ages 7 and 9, in the meantime her resources are stretched thin. Thanks to an Open Doors Scholarship, though, her children have had the opportunity to participate in after school care, swim lessons, soccer and summer day camp at the Eastside YMCA. “If it wasn’t for this scholarship, my children would have nowhere to go over the summer,” Kathy said.

Both children have thrived – Kathy’s daughter enjoys the crafts and her son loves sports – and both have earned Camper of the Week honors, which reward consistent display of the YMCA values of responsibility, respect, caring and honesty. Kathy especially likes that the programs at the Y reflect the diversity of the larger Greenville community. “It’s a diverse community at the Y, where we meet people from all walks of life,” she said.

Russell

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Russell* comes from a family that has depended on the mills for its livelihood for many years. His father was raising him on his own, but when he was jailed for several arrests, Russell wound up in the care of his grandmother.

For the last three years, Russell has attended the Judson Community Center’s after school and summer camp programs. Although his attendance was sometimes spotty during the school year because of his unstable home life, he has always attended the full 10 weeks of summer camp.

Understandably shy, Russell took a long time to make friends at camp – often until the very last weeks of the summer. But in those last weeks he would blossom, and was always amongst friends or offering to help Y staff with program-related tasks.

Throughout these three years, Russell has always been able to count on the Y to provide a safe, fun place for him where he was surrounded by caring adults. *Not his real name

Isabelle

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Isabelle and her three children were forced to leave their home after the South Carolina Department of Social Services ordered that the children be removed from their father’s care. For a time, she and the kids lived with family members, moving periodically from one household to another.

As a means of easing the burden on those helping them, Isabelle looked into putting the children in summer day camp at the Caine Halter Family YMCA. With the help of a scholarship, Isabelle was able to put all three children in camp on her limited budget, giving them a chance to experience some normal social interactions during a time of great upheaval in their lives.

Isabelle and her children eventually secured a place at Miracle Hill Ministries’ Shepherd’s Gate shelter, and began rebuilding their lives.

Isabelle said, “This is my second chance and I aim to do everything I can to make it right and make it work.”

Jayla

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Jayla started attending preschool at the Judson Community Center when she was 3 years old. Now in her second year, she has shown impressive gains in language development, such as speaking in complete sentences and using grammar correctly. Equally as important, Jayla has learned valuable social skills, and views everyone around her as a friend. Her mother said, “Jayla will talk to anyone, regardless of their race or anything that may be different about them.” Jayla’s mother is a single parent, and has one less worry knowing that Jayla loves her school. In addition, when she was between jobs and couldn’t afford the program’s weekly payments, the Y was able to help her, thanks to an Open Doors scholarship.

Kevin

Kevin’s family joined the Eastside Family YMCA, and Kevin connected with a coach in the Wellness Works program who helped him set up a personal exercise routine that would meet his goals.

In four months, Kevin dropped 17 pounds and took more than two inches off his waist size. More importantly, he was able to reduce his medication for preventing diabetes, and may soon be able to eliminate it.

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An avid skier and mountain biker as a young man, Kevin found it harder to stay active after a cross-country move, back surgery and car accident.

When his doctor informed him he had become pre-diabetic, Kevin knew it was time for a lifestyle change.

Jack

Jack likes that the Beast Mode program goes beyond regular exercise, and he appreciates the personalized attention and the focus on proper technique. Not only does he reap health benefits from the program, he also enjoys the social interaction with the other participants, and the sense of community that forms. Jack’s instructor said Jack serves as an inspiration to others, too.

“He works hard and puts people half his age to shame,” his instructor said. “There’s no age limit to Beast Mode.”

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When Jack was looking for a way to stay active in his early 80s, he looked right past the water aerobics classes that appeal to many as they hit their older years, and discovered Beast Mode, the Y’s highintensity training class.

Adiela & Emmanuel

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Adiela, a single mom, didn’t believe that child care at the Y was within her means. But with the help of a scholarship, Adiela’s 11-year-old son Emmanuel has been attending after school care and summer day camp for the last four years. Since he began attending, his grades have improved, and most days his homework is done by the time he arrives home. In 2014, he also played on a youth soccer team for the first time, and loved it. The Y’s focus on healthy living has rubbed off on Adiela, too. She comes to the gym daily at 7:30 a.m. for weights and a cardio workout. Sometimes she comes back at night with Emmanuel for a kids’ class, or just to play together in the gym. Adiela said, “I am very thankful for the Y, because not only is Emmanuel being taken care of, I am living a healthier lifestyle, too. We love the Y and are thankful for the scholarship program.”

Kiara

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Kiara began coming to the Judson Y as a quiet and shy preschooler at age 3. Years went by, and Kiara moved from the preschool to the after school and summer day camp programs. She began to model the Y character values of respect, honesty, responsibility and caring, but remained reserved.

Now Kiara, a seventh-grade student, participates in the middle school after school program. She has blossomed into an active, engaged student.

She is an honor roll student, and ran for student council at her school.

She also dances on the Y step team and participates in Youth In Government conferences in the spring and fall.

Once a little girl with low self-esteem, Kiara is now a young lady who is confident and ready to take on new challenges.

Navi

Before coming to the YMCA school, Brindha could not perform basic activities without support, but after a year and a half of training with special educators, Brindha has shown much improvement and is now working on tasks such as washing dishes.

Though her parents are poor, they are doing the best they can to care for their children. The encouragement and support they receive from the YMCA is instilling confidence and hope, and enabling them to provide a good education and family environment for their children.

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Navi Brindha is a 10-year-old with developmental delays who lives in Madurai, India with her parents and 7-year-old brother. Brindha’s family moved from a small village in order to be close to the Madurai YMCA’s Special School for Mentally Challenged Children, where Brindha now attends school. Not only does this provide training in basic life skills for Brindha, it also allows her mother to work to help support the family’s income.

Travon

Travon said his mentors gave him permission to move away from the people in his life who were not a good influence, and instead draw near to those who would encourage him to reach his goals.

After realizing that his poor grades might cause him to repeat the 10th grade, Travon worked hard to improve them. He learned time management, and stopped procrastinating on his school work until the last minute.

Now a junior, Travon said the Teen Achievers program let him know there were people on his side, who were there to help him take steps toward his positive goals for the future.

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Travon participated in the Teen Achievers program as a sophomore at J.L. Mann Academy. His mentors, Neil and Andre, helped him learn to think about his future and make choices that would support his hopes and goals.

Courtenay

“Bill’s encouragement made me realize that I could do more than just become fit,” Courtenay said. “I could be an athlete – something I had never called myself!”

Today Courtenay says maintaining her desired fitness level is more of a challenge, but she continues to see positive changes by working with Bill.

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In 2008, Courtenay decided it was time to make her health a priority.

Since she was a member of the Caine Halter Family YMCA, she made an appointment for a Wellness Works assessment. Her coach, Bill, guided her in finding exercise routines that would work for her and coached her in better eating choices, and as a result, Courtenay lost 25 pounds in just six months. That was more than she had initially set out to lose!

Mary

During her first year as a member of the Y, Mary was approached about serving on the branch’s Advisory Board. Over the next five years, Mary enjoyed playing a leadership role in the branch’s initiatives.

Mary said she plans for the George I. Theisen YMCA to be an integral part of her life for the rest of her years.

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Mary had recently retired from teaching, and decided it was time to start exercising again. She and her husband joined the George I. Theisen Family YMCA, and from her first visit, she was hooked. Everyone she met was friendly and welcoming. She soon began participating in senior group exercise classes, where she met people who became some of her closest friends.

Frazee Dream Center

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Spending a week at summer camp is often not an option for children at the Frazee Dream Center, a local community center in Greenville that provides preschool, after school and summer programs for underserved children. In 2014, several community donors came together to give youth at the Dream Center the opportunity to attend YMCA Camp Greenville. It was the week of a lifetime for them – they tried new things, took educated risks, and were part of a community of peers. In addition, these young people brought back new skills to apply to their everyday lives, along with the confidence to achieve more for themselves and their community.

Kathleen

But two of her children needed supervision after school and during the summers. When Kathleen received an Annual Campaign scholarship, which made it possible for the boys to attend the after school program and summer camp at the Eastside Family YMCA, it was a tremendous relief. In addition, sometimes the whole family would visit the YMCA together to use the fitness facilities or the pool.

Now that she is in a better position, Kathleen hopes to be able to pass that kind of blessing along to other families in need by donating to the Open Doors scholarship program herself.

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When Kathleen became a single mother, she returned to the work force, and also went to school full time in order to provide a more secure situation for her children.

Jessica and Daniel

“They really inspired me to give 110 percent,” she said.

Several years later, Daniel accepted a role as a board member for the branch. He now enjoys being part of what the Y represents and helping the organization achieve its goals.

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Jessica was in a car accident in 2002 that resulted in a traumatic brain injury. After completing rehabilitation at a local hospital, she and her husband, Daniel, joined the George I. Theisen Family YMCA, and continued her therapy on their own using the facilities there about three times a week. Jessica also worked with a personal trainer, and said she appreciated how everyone at the Y made her feel that “betterness” was on the horizon.

Jenna Beth

Jenna Beth joined the GHS Family YMCA and tried out a Body Combat class. She said the compassion and encouragement of the instructor opened the door to a new level of confidence for her.

Jenna adopted a new lifestyle of healthy eating, drinking plenty of water and getting adequate rest, and worked out at the Y six times a week.

A year after Jenna Beth began working out at the Y, she had lost 100 pounds and felt more motivated, encouraged and inspired than ever before.

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At 28 years old, Jenna Beth was the heaviest she’d ever been. She knew she needed to lose weight, but wasn’t sure joining a gym would help, because of previous experiences.

Noel

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Noel’s mother enrolled him in preschool at the Judson Community Center because his two older siblings had thrived there and in the after school program. However, 3-year-old Noel has severe speech development problems, so his mother wasn’t sure how things would go for him.

One day each week Noel is picked up at the Y for off-site speech/language therapy. At preschool, his teachers can usually understand at least one word out of a sentence – mostly through familiarity with Noel’s favorite topics of conversation.

Noel has made significant progress over the last year, and his mother credits not only his therapy, but also the language-rich environment in his preschool classroom.

Tanya

Tanya’s husband began taking her to the Greenville Health System Family YMCA to help improve movement in her shoulder. Eventually, though, Tanya’s husband had to return to work. So Tanya began working with Laura Schaffer, a personal trainer at the Y who had worked with other stroke victims.

Four years later, Tanya is still working out with Laura two hours each week.

She recently participated in a couch to 5K training program, and completed a 5K race walking side-by-side with a Y employee.

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Tanya had always led an active life, but at age 42, Tanya suffered a stroke that deprived her brain of 98 percent of its blood flow for eight hours. She spent a month at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, and when she finally returned home after ten weeks, her walking, eating, drinking and speaking were still extremely limited.

Joshua, Cynthia and Jasmine

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Nine-year-old Jasmine and her sister Cynthia and brother Joshua, ages 7 and 5, all attend the after school program at the Judson Community Center. During the last year, the children had to move from their home and live with family friends. This meant a change in schools for the children, but they were able to continue going to the Judson Y after school.

With Y counselors ensuring their homework was complete and that they were reading for twenty minutes every afternoon, the children were able to stay on track at school. In addition, Jasmine, Cynthia and Joshua found comfort in the consistent and caring environment at the Y, when other areas of their life were ever-changing.

As a result, all three were able to maintain good grades and were promoted to the next grade level – a tremendous accomplishment considering their circumstances. Today the children are back in their family home and continue to come to the Y every afternoon.

Melissa

Melissa decided to begin using her Y membership, and discovered some group classes at the Caine Halter Family YMCA that she enjoyed. She began coming regularly, and within four weeks she no longer needed her anti-depression medication.

In the next year, Melissa lost 15 pounds and lowered her cholesterol, and found the joy in her family and her life again.

“I’m a much better mother to my children now that I can laugh and smile and dance with them,” she said.

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At the end of 2013, Melissa’s family was going through a difficult time, and she knew it had a lot to do with her. Melissa was struggling with her weight and with high cholesterol, in addition to battling postpartum depression.

Crocker Family

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The Crocker family attended the first ever Military Family Camp at YMCA Camp Greenville. They are a family of five, with children between ages 10 and 13. The children have spent almost six years apart from their father while he was deployed on various tours of duty, and the last two years has been a struggle as the family has readjusted to dad’s presence.

At Military Family Camp, the children had the opportunity to meet other military children and share experiences, and the parents participated in a group session with a professional counselor who is also a Vietnam veteran. There, they were able to see that they weren’t alone – everyone in the room shared common ground in their struggles as a military family.

Like other families there that weekend, the Crockers have continued to enjoy experiences at Camp Greenville. They have encouraged other families to attend as well, given how significantly it has impacted their family dynamics. The children have shown a greater willingness to try new things since their weekend at camp, and the whole family displays more of an attitude of confidence and team-building than they had previously.

Felicia

Over the course of a year, Felicia dropped 60 pounds, and plans to continue losing weight. Her son played every sport the Y offered, and now at age 5, weighs 60 pounds.

“The YMCA and the Annual Campaign scholarship have truly been a Godsend,” Felicia said. “It has truly been a blessing to have my son play sports, and the YMCA has helped us both start living a healthier lifestyle.”

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Felicia knew her family needed to do something about their weight.

She weighed 380 pounds herself, and her 4-year-old son was 70 pounds.

With the help of an Annual Campaign scholarship, Felicia and her son joined the Eastside Family YMCA.

Tiffany

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Tiffany, a 16-year-old girl living at Miracle Hill Children’s Home, was able to attend Camp Greenville during the summer of 2014 through an Annual Campaign Scholarship. Often when children are living outside the home, they tend to be guarded at camp, staying back from the group and not getting involved with their surroundings. Tiffany was an exception, diving into the camp experience. Her favorite activity was working with the horses at the camp stable. But Tiffany didn’t stop there – she stepped up as a leader, taking it upon herself to check in on the other children who were from Miracle Hill and trying to get them engaged at camp as well.

Tiffany returned to Miracle Hill a changed and more confident person after her week at Camp Greenville.