[JHeath]

http://www.michigancityin.com/articles/200.../14/news/n8.txt

Interim director specializes in helping troubled Ys
By Deborah Sederberg, The News-Dispatch

Chris Fischer feels at home at the Michigan City Family YMCA, or, for that matter, nearly any YMCA.

“I grew up with them,” said the Sioux City, Iowa, native. “I've been around Ys all my life,” said Fischer, the new interim executive director of the local Y.

On Thursday, Fischer, who arrived just a week ago, admitted to feeling just a little disoriented. He had been out of town, expecting to return on Wednesday afternoon, but instead, delayed by weather, spent most of the night in the Atlanta airport.

“I finally got home at 5:30 this morning,” said Fischer, who says he's 32, but looks much younger.

For a few years, he has been in what he describes as a “helping” mode, taking temporary positions to help struggling Ys back to health.

“Chris recently spent 2 1/2 years with the Duneland Family YMCA in Chesterton,” said Greg Tuel, president of the board of directors of the Michigan City Family YMCA. “In Chesterton he doubled membership and doubled programming.”

The local Y, which is facing some financial turmoil, would get a big boost from a rise in membership, Tuel said.

Although Tuel has been frank with the community about the issues at the Y, he hopes local residents will continue to support the organization.

“We really are on two tracks here,” Tuel said. “One is to reinvent ourselves and two is business as usual.”

Y programs continue as they did before the crisis, he said.

Although he is still new to Michigan City, Fischer says he already knows he will enjoy his stay here.

“I'm very happy to be here,” he said. “We've got a great staff and a lot of loyal members.”

Raising membership figures is one of Fischer's charges, along with improving the physical plant of the Y.

A firm believer in the Y's four core values - honesty, caring, respect and responsibility - Fischer believes those qualities are expressed in much of the Y's programming.

One of his goals is to attract more young families to the Y. The organization has a lot to offer young children, ages 3 to 5, he said, pointing to sports programs and summer day camp.

Fischer, who has had experience in facilities management as well as programming and public communication, hopes to get the Y's facilities in better shape.

“We have been working closely with the national YMCA,” Tuel said, “and Chris is one of four area directors who toured our facility.”

Tuel said he hopes Tuesday's community meeting at the Y will be well attended. It's set for 7 p.m. at the YMCA, 1101 Coolspring Ave. Another meeting, this one directed at the business community, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, also at the YMCA.

For more information, call the YMCA at 872-9622.


Contact reporter Deborah Sederberg at dsederberg@thenewsdispatch.com.

[Southsider2k12]

Chris is going to do an excellent job for our Y. We are pretty luck to have him around for as long as we can keep him. He has an excellent track record in Y's just like ours, and is a steal to have him. He made a great impression on us from the first time we met him.

[Southsider2k12]

I don't know if anyone has been back to the Y lately, but Chris is proving to be worth every penny we are paying him. Things have really been running much better, and you can see results all over the place. Even things as basic as the front desk area are much cleaner and the staff is operating at a much higher level. He has also been hitting the budget with a fine tooth comb and making necessary changes to things to help restore fiscal sanity to our Y.

The guy has been a God send so far.

[JHeath]

I just hope you're giving as much credit to Chris Blake as Chris Fischer. He's been a great asset to the Y, or at least seems to be from the outside, as well.

[Southsider2k12]

I just hope you're giving as much credit to Chris Blake as Chris Fischer. He's been a great asset to the Y, or at least seems to be from the outside, as well.

Don't get me wrong, Chris Blake is doing a great job as well, but it begins at the top. Chris Blake now has a direction which he never had before. He is finally being utilized to his potential.

[Roger Kaputnik]

Could we have an update, Southsider?

[Southsider2k12]

Its an interesting time to be honest. We have a committee meeting with community leaders at the sametime we as a board are working on detailing our situation in order to plan something out. I have put in a ton of work on an all-encompassing recovery plan, that pretty much covers every part of the Y's operation from how we run things, to how we raise money, how we budget, and how we work in the community. Its a long process, and we have come a long way so far, but we have a ton of work ahead of us.

[Roger Kaputnik]

Is there anything we can do to help?

[Southsider2k12]

The two biggest things the community at large can do to help is to join the Y, and to donate time as a volunteer for anything you are good at. We are always in need of people to do just about anything from small work projects around the building and grounds to people who have more technical skills and can help out with infrastructure problems around the facilities. We do have "work days" about one every six weeks to two months for things like painting, pulling weeds, changing lightbulbs etc.

If anyone is interested in specifics, they can always gets ahold of me, and I can get them going in the right direction.

[Roger Kaputnik]

Can we direct folks to stop in and ask at the desk?

[Southsider2k12]

Yeah, that should work. If nothing else, they will know where to find the guys who know what is going on. I also can get ahold of a list of things that we are working on, if people are interested in something specific.

[Roger Kaputnik]

A list would be a good thing to see.

[Southsider2k12]

I'll try to grab one at our next facilities meeting...

[Southsider2k12]

Here is the latest letter and invitation to the public from the Y's board President

YMCA changing, but will continue

Greg Tuel

In recent months, we have shared with the community the ongoing challenges faced by the Michigan City YMCA. Whatever the rumors you may have heard concerning our YMCA, let me assure you that the organization will continue to have a role in Michigan City, working with children and families as well as the community at large, as it has for over 100 years.

The YMCA will, though, be different from what it has been in the recent past. We have already begun making changes in the way we serve our members, and it is vital that this process continues for the organization to survive and thrive.

The list of concerns faced by the Board of Directors responsible for the YMCA's health and future is long, and the resolutions have not all been identified. But, even though the final plan is not yet complete, I can tell you these things today:

• The future of the YMCA in this community is not an issue that is taken lightly by anyone involved.

• An Advisory Council of dedicated volunteers has come together, donating their time and expertise to address the needs of the Michigan City YMCA.

• A comprehensive process is taking place right now through the committees we have formed; they are identifying challenges, resources and opportunities that will foster the changes our YMCA must embrace.

• The YMCA continues to do its best to provide programs to our 2000+ members while the organization undergoes reformation.

Several of our leaders have stepped up to answer this challenge, but critical financial and facility issues still need to be addressed by and supported by the community. Also, and most important, we have done a great deal of soul searching about our mission and how to incorporate it into everything we do. That mission is about providing opportunities for young people to develop their spirits, minds and bodies in an atmosphere of faith. If you look around the country - or, for that matter, at the successful Associations closer to home in LaPorte, Portage and Valparaiso - you will see how YMCAs actively work within those communities to promote principles that lead children to become good people and good citizens.

We are dedicated to making it work here in our hometown. That is why the Michigan City YMCA Board of Directors and the Advisory Council believe that reforming the organization to ensure its survival is mandatory - for the good of our families and of our community. Change can be difficult, uncomfortable, even frightening; but change is also a good thing, bringing new ideas and activities into our lives.

We have a long road ahead of us ... and we invite you to join us in the process of change. In the end, it will be the level of community support that will ultimately determine the future of the YMCA in Michigan City.

Our August Advisory Council meeting will be open to the public and you are most welcome to join us. Further information on that meeting will be forthcoming. In addition, reports of our progress will be available on our Web site, www.michigancityymca.com, as well as through the local media. You may send questions and comments to our executive director, Chris Fischer, at the YMCA (219-872-9622) or call me (219-921-5555).

Greg Tuel, President

Michigan City Family YMCA Board of Directors

[Max Main]

If they will be around, I will join them.

[Southsider2k12]

A nice vote of confidence from Rick Richards...

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=50095.86

YMCA Still Climbing To Solve Financial Woes

Rick Richards
City Editor, The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - The first step toward solving a problem is understanding it. And that is where the Michigan City YMCA stands in trying to solve its financial woes.

On March 29, officials with the YMCA went public with long-festering financial problems, announcing plans to hold a series of meetings for both the public and business community.

Greg Tuel, president of the board for the YMCA, said he wanted to learn what the public wanted from the YMCA and to find out what kind of community support there was.

He also warned that the situation was so dire that all options - including closing the YMCA at 1001 E. Coolspring Ave. - were on the table. Tuel admitted no one wanted to do that, but it had to be considered.

As a result of those meetings, Tuel said he has learned there is support for the YMCA from the public and the business community. The next step, he said, is translating that support into action.

In March, Tuel explained that the YMCA had $134,000 in debt. While some debts have been paid, he said the organization is in about the same financial situation it was four months ago.

The Y had 800 members in March, half of what it had in 2001 and not nearly enough for it to meet its bills.

In talking about recent efforts to drum up support, Tuel was accompanied by Tony Rodriguez, Jan Kostielny and director Chris Fisher.

Rodriguez, former head of the Michigan City Economic Development Corp., has volunteered to help.

"I think the most exciting thing is the process," said Rodriguez. "We are reinventing the Y."

Tuel agreed.

"This has made us focus more on our mission. And as long as we remain true to the Y's mission, we will succeed. We have to follow our mission or we'll be nothing more than a health club, and there's a lot more to the Y than a health club."

Kostielny said the YMCA got into trouble in recent years because it didn't adjust to changing demographics in the community because the Y lost touch with its base.

By reconnecting and providing the types of programs the public wants, the Y will succeed, she said.

Tuel said the Y's financial crisis has been "a call to arms." He said it has awakened not only YMCA members, it's also awakened others in the community.

For instance, he said the St. Joe Club held a fundraiser recently and donated money to the Y. "We didn't ask them, they just did it for us," said Tuel.

More public meetings are set in August and Tuel said more details about the Y's future will be available.

Contact City Editor Rick A. Richards at news@thenewsdispatch.com.