Fauntleroy YMCA Community Meeting

Posted: 05 Jan 2024

The attached letter recently sent from the YMCA expresses concern about the viability of the Y staying in Fauntleroy. The partnership between the Y and the Fauntleroy Church has existed for over 100 years. The Y is requesting community input into the discussion about the future of the Y in the Fauntleroy community. The Y is holding a town hall meeting on Jan 19 from 4 to 6 PM. We encourage people to read the attached letter and provide input to the Y with your thoughts about how they can stay in Fauntleroy.

Dear West Seattle and Fauntleroy YMCA Community,

We appreciate your patience and thoughtful messages as we have begun initial conversations on the future plans for our Fauntleroy Y location. As we all continue to adjust and recover from the pandemic and adapt to new community needs and norms, we find ourselves at a crossroads with how we use our space at the Fauntleroy YMCA in a fiscally responsible and mission-impactful way — and we need our community’s input and support.

We have served the Fauntleroy community for nearly a century. This location also has been providing dedicated fitness equipment spaces since the 1990s. In the heart of West Seattle, the Fauntleroy YMCA is a testament to community wellness, a legacy that began with the Colman family’s vision for the Y, from humble beginnings in 1912, hosting youth from Fauntleroy Church and the wider community at their Horsehead Bay summer home, to the evolution into Camp Colman on Case Inlet in 1966. Now, more than a century later, the Fauntleroy Y has continuously nurtured growth, learning, and camaraderie. The Y has been an integral part of the local fabric — and over time, it has evolved to serve what our community needs.

Now — as we face these crossroads — we are asked once again to explore what it might look like to evolve together. We are currently facing a decline in membership, which in turn feeds into a lower utilization of the Fauntleroy Y. Fauntleroy also has fixed annual costs to maintain operations, and these are not covered by our current revenue. We will not make any hurried final decisions, especially considering our nearly 100-year legacy of serving the Fauntleroy community. We will be continuing our relationship with the Fauntleroy Church in 2024 as we closely monitor the community’s engagement and support and explore a variety of ways to use the space for the benefit of the community in a fiscally responsible way. To be successful at this location, it’s imperative that community walks alongside us and demonstrates its commitment and support for continued operations in this space.

During the coming weeks, we will gauge our progress based on membership growth and branch utilization, community engagement, and financial support from community that are critical to help sustain operations and staffing at the Fauntleroy Y. We are asking for your assistance to continue our operations. For Fauntleroy to have a mission impact and be a financially viable location, we estimate that we will need the following: $400k a year in recurring funding, 2,000 Annual Memberships, and $200k in funds donated. Unfortunately, we may need to reconsider our operations at this location without this level of sustainable support and engagement. Regardless, we remain committed to honoring the Fauntleroy Y’s legacy of evolving to serve our community by exploring new opportunities to repurpose this space if feasible and serving the community in different, yet fiscally responsible, ways.

We will also host a town hall on January 19 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm at the Fauntleroy Church gathering hall. We invite you to join us in an open dialogue about the Fauntleroy Y’s future, ask questions, and share your ideas and collaborative concepts for the space and how we can best serve the community sustainably. January is the kickoff of our annual membership drive, leading into our Annual Fund Drive in February. Now is the perfect time for community to lean in to help revitalize our operations at the Fauntleroy Y. Please encourage your members and friends to join us on the road to our Annual Fund Drive kick off as they begin their New Year’s resolution to take care of their health. Get involved with our upcoming fundraising campaign by emailing me or by donating today to help us get started!

We will ask all West Seattle community members to join us in collaborating and developing a strategy that supports our efforts to keep this part of the space open. Please keep in mind that members of the Fauntleroy location have access to the West Seattle Family Y and all YMCA of Greater Seattle’s wellness and health centers across King County and 2,500 locations nationally via Nationwide Y membership. Recognizing the importance of fellowship and community connections, we’ve introduced morning talk and coffee sessions for all members on Tuesdays and Thursdays, along with a Working Parents space on Mondays and Wednesdays at our West Seattle location.

If you have any other inquiries, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at pr@seattleymca.org.

Your presence and dedication at the Fauntleroy YMCA have been invaluable to us. Thank you for being an essential part of our community. We look forward to continuing this journey together.

Warm regards,

Cleveland King Branch Executive

More information can be found on the YMCA’s Blog