By: Jamie Bruning-Miles, CEO, YMCA of San Francisco
On March 16, 2020, the shelter-in-place order was instituted in California. On March 17, 2020, we held our first Pop-Up Y Kids emergency childcare program at our YMCA location in San Francisco’s Mission District.
That initial Pop-Up Y Kids on March 17 would be the first of many to come. In fact, the program has evolved into what we now call Community Hubs — comprehensive programs comprising childcare, academics, enrichment opportunities, and physical activity, of which we now have about 30 across the Bay Area. Pop-Up Y Kids would also serve as the catalyst for a number of YMCA initiatives aimed at supporting essential workers, families, and kids through the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.
We’re proud that what we’re delivering to our YMCA San Francisco community hasn’t changed — we just began delivering it in a different way in 2020.