Employee Testimonials

Serving more than 35,000 people in over 17 communities across the Southcoast, our staff members of all ages and from all walks of life, experience the personal satisfaction that comes from nurturing the potential of youth and teens, improving the communities' health and well-being and providing support to our neighbors. Read what some of them have to say!

After 35 years in public education, it was my good fortune to find employment in the YMCA Southcoast Wellness Center. The “Y” has become a second home for me, and the staff and members, extended family.  The sincerity, friendliness, and professionalism of the administration and staff is genuine.  I have made so many caring friends amongst the membership who encourage, share with, and check on each other, making the “Y” a healthy physical, social, and emotional experience.  I whole-heartedly endorse it!
- Dick Dias

As a member of the Youth & Teen Department, one of my responsibilities is the challenging, sometimes "hair-raising" task of supervising our Gym at the Gleason Family YMCA. During the summer months I needed to separate a couple of kids who were getting a bit too physical on the court; I had to ask them to leave the gym and our facility for the evening. They were not happy with me! Flash forward to last evening (6 months later) - as I was making my rounds, checking the men's locker room, there was a kid standing in front of the mirror with a tie hanging off his shoulders with a lost look in his eyes.  He looked at me and asked me if I knew how to work one of these things?  I asked him why the tie? and he stated he had to get dressed up prior to his basketball game that night. I tied his tie for him, slipped it over his head and told him he looked "straight."  He thanked me and I walked back out the door. That kid was one of the kids I kicked out of the gym for fighting just a few months prior.  I can't truly explain why, but this was one of the most rewarding experiences that I've had as an Associate.  I think it comes down to one of the Y's core values, as well as the writing on the yellow banner that hangs from our gymnasium's wall..."Respect"
- Ray A.