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The YMCA of Coastal Georgia and its 11 branches will be joining communities across the country for Welcoming Week, taking place from September 13-22. As part of this nationwide event organized by Welcoming America, the Y will host a variety of activities that celebrate the contributions of new Americans while fostering a sense of belonging among all community members. This week offers a unique opportunity for neighbors, both immigrants and U.S.-born residents, to come together and celebrate what unites us.

Activities Across All Branches

Each YMCA branch in Coastal Georgia will feature its own series of activities throughout Welcoming Week, allowing every community to participate in the way that resonates most with its members. From family gatherings and community picnics to cultural showcases and fitness events, there’s something for everyone. All events are designed to celebrate diversity and promote connection.

Be sure to check back here or follow your local Y’s social media pages for updates on specific activities and schedules.

Join Us for Welcoming Week

YMCA branches across Coastal Georgia are proud to be part of this important movement, welcoming individuals from all walks of life. We invite you to join us as we celebrate what makes each community unique and how our shared values help build a more inclusive future for all.

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About the YMCA of Coastal Georgia

With a legacy spanning more than 175 years, the YMCA of Coastal Georgia is committed to building stronger communities by ensuring that people from all backgrounds have access to resources, relationships, and opportunities to thrive. Through initiatives that promote health and well-being, youth empowerment, and community connection, the Y continues to be a trusted space where everyone can belong. Learn more at ymca.org.

About Welcoming Week

Launched in 2012 by Welcoming America, Welcoming Week is an annual celebration aimed at creating inclusive communities that embrace the diversity and contributions of immigrants. Through local events and initiatives, Welcoming Week fosters mutual understanding and belonging between immigrants and long-time residents. Find out more at welcomingamerica.org.

Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to be held SATURDAY 10AM-3PM

Guyton, GA – The YMCA of Coastal Georgia announces the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new Guyton Family YMCA on Saturday, August 24, 2024. The event will feature a variety of activities, food, and the opportunity to explore the new facilities and learn about Y membership.

Event Details:

• Date: Saturday, August 24, 2024
• Time: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM (Ribbon Cutting at 10:30 AM with local VIPs and officials)
• Location: 718 Central Blvd., Guyton, GA

Activities and Highlights:

• Food: Food will be provided by The Rusty Pig in Rincon, sides and drinks from Southern Kafe in Guyton.
• Entertainment: Inflatables from Flippin Out Inflatables in Guyton, face painting, caricature drawing, and more!
• Tours: Tours of the new facility, showcasing the state-of-the-art health and wellness center, group exercise studios, Child Watch, locker rooms, and dedicated spaces for adult, youth, and senior programs.
• Swag and Prizes: Various Y Swag and merchandise will be available.

ENTER TO WIN A NEW 28” BLACKSTONE GRIDDLE (Entries will only be accepted on site during the Grand Opening celebration)

• Special Membership Offer: On the day of the grand opening, anyone joining the YMCA association-wide will pay no joiner’s fee.

Joel Smoker, CEO of YMCA of Coastal Georgia: “The opening of the Guyton Family YMCA marks our dedication to expanding services and support to the Guyton community. We welcome everyone to explore the diverse programs and amenities we offer.”

Shelly Fickau, Executive Director of the Guyton Family YMCA: “We are excited to bring the YMCA’s longstanding tradition of community service to Guyton. Our new facility will provide a comprehensive range of programs and services to meet the diverse needs of the community. We look forward to becoming a vital part of the Guyton community.”Join us for a day of celebration and experience why the YMCA is more than just a gym—it’s a community. We look forward to welcoming you to the Guyton Family YMCA.

About YMCA of Coastal Georgia: For nearly two centuries, the YMCA of Coastal Georgia has been a cornerstone of the community, providing essential services and support to residents. Our mission is to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all.

The Y is More than Just a Gym: At the Guyton Family YMCA, we’re dedicated to improving lives through a wide range of programs and services. From state-of-the-art fitness facilities to enriching youth, childcare, and senior programs, we offer something for everyone.

Whether you’re looking to stay fit, connect with others, or give back to the community, the YMCA is here for you. Join us and discover the difference that our longstanding commitment to service and support can make in your life.

We would like to inform you about an upcoming upgrade to our facility. As part of our preventive maintenance and in preparation for our branch renovation, we will be installing a new air conditioning system. This work is scheduled to begin on Thursday, August 22 and is expected to be completed by Monday, August 26.

During the installation period, our doors will remain open, and we will have fans placed throughout the building to help maintain comfort. However, please be aware that with the August heat in Southeast Georgia, the facility may be warmer than usual. Some areas of the building, as well as certain programs and classes, may be closed for short periods as needed to facilitate the installation.

We realize this necessary upgrade will cause inconvenience and we appreciate your understanding. The equipment for this upgrade has been on back-order, and we have now received approval for installation on these dates. This necessary work is essential to our larger renovation plans, and we are committed to making all necessary accommodations to minimize disruptions.

For more information, please contact Branch Director Crystal Patora or speak with a staff member at the Welcome Desk.

Thank you for your patience and continued support as we work to improve our facility for all members.

We want to thank all our members and staff for their patience and understanding during the recent closures due to Tropical Storm/Hurricane Debby. We are closely monitoring conditions and working with local authorities to ensure we provide a safe environment for everyone. Please review the updated information for YBASE (YMCA Before and After School Enrichment), childcare, and youth programs below:

Golden Isles (Glynn County)

• YBASE resumes: With school start on Thursday, August 8th.

McIntosh (McIntosh County)

• No YBASE: School start for 2024-25 has been delayed until Monday, August 12th.

Liberty County / Long County

• No YBASE: School start for 2024-25 has been delayed until Monday, August 12th.

Richmond Hill (Bryan County)

• YBASE resumes: With school start on Thursday, August 8th.

Habersham YMCA

• No YBASE: School resumes for 2024-25 on Friday, August 9th.
• Decision on Friday: Will be announced by SCCPSS by 2 PM on Thursday.
• Holiday Camp: Offered on Thursday, August 8th. Registration open online.
• Holiday Camp: Will be offered on Friday, August 9th if schools do not return to learning.

Islands YMCA

• No YBASE: School resumes for 2024-25 on Friday, August 9th.
• Decision on Friday: Will be announced by SCCPSS by 2 PM on Thursday.
• Holiday Camp: Offered on Thursday, August 8th. Registration open online.
• Holiday Camp: Will be offered on Friday, August 9th if schools do not return to learning.

West Chatham YMCA

• No YBASE: School resumes for 2024-25 on Friday, August 9th.
• Decision on Friday: Will be announced by SCCPSS by 2 PM on Thursday.
• Holiday Camp: Offered on Thursday, August 8th. Registration open online.
• Holiday Camp: Will be offered on Friday, August 9th if schools do not return to learning.

Chatham YBASE (SCCPSS)

• No YBASE: School resumes for 2024-25 on Friday, August 9th.
• Decision on Friday: Will be announced by SCCPSS by 2 PM on Thursday.

Tybee (TIMA)

• No YBASE: School resumes for 2024-25 on Thursday, August 8th.

Effingham / Effingham YBASE / CLC

• No YBASE: School start for 2024-25 has been delayed until Monday, August 12th.
• Summer Camp: Extended through Friday, August 9th.
• Summer Camp: Normal hours on Thursday, August 8th.
• Creative Critters: Normal hours on Thursday, August 8th.

Statesboro (Bulloch County)

• No YBASE: School resumes for 2024-25 on Monday, August 12th.
• Holiday Camp: Offered on Thursday, August 8th and Friday, August 9th. Registration open online.

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Childcare Learning Centers

After a thorough assessment of our facilities to ensure the safety of both our staff and students, we are pleased to announce that the Habersham and West Chatham Childcare Learning Centers will reopen with their normal hours on Thursday, August 8, and Friday, August 9.

While we understand that SCCPSS schools will remain closed, we are confident that our centers are ready to welcome your children back. Please note that Georgia Lottery PreK will remain closed in accordance with local school system requirements. However, we are happy to offer our Holiday Camp for students in the GA Lottery PreK program who need care during this time. If you’d like to register, please visit the following links:

• West Chatham CLC: Register here
• Habersham CLC: Register here

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigated the aftermath of the storm. We look forward to seeing your children soon and providing them with a safe and nurturing environment.

Golden Isles

• Reopens: Wednesday, August 7th with normal center hours.

Habersham

• Reopens: Thursday, August 8th with normal center hours.

West Chatham

• Reopens: Thursday, August 8th with normal center hours.

We appreciate your continued cooperation and support. Please stay tuned for further updates as we work to ensure the safety and well-being of our community. Stay safe!

Thank you for your patience and understanding during our closure. All YMCA of Coastal Georgia branches and operations will reopen at 9am on Wednesday, August 7. Here are the specific details for each location:

Golden Isles

• Hours of Operation: 9am – regular closing time
• No Group Fitness, No Childwatch, Pools will be closed

McIntosh

• Hours of Operation: 9am – regular closing time
• No Group Fitness, No Childwatch

Liberty County

• Hours of Operation: 9am – regular closing time
• PM Only Group Fitness and Childwatch, Pool will be open beginning at 9am

Richmond Hill

• Hours of Operation: 9am – regular closing time
• Group Fitness Schedule resumes at 9am, Childwatch begins at 9am

Statesboro

• Hours of Operation: 9am – regular closing time
• No Group Fitness, No Childwatch
• 24-Hour Access resumes upon reopening

Effingham

• Hours of Operation: 9am – regular closing time
• Group Fitness Schedule resumes at 9am, Childwatch begins at 9am, Pool will be closed
• 24-Hour Access resumes upon reopening

West Chatham

• Hours of Operation: 9am – regular closing time
• Group Fitness Schedule resumes at 9am, Childwatch begins at 9am, Pool will be closed
• 24-Hour Access resumes upon reopening

Habersham

• Hours of Operation: 9am – regular closing time
• Modified Group Fitness schedule beginning at 9am, No Childwatch, Pool will be closed

Islands

• Hours of Operation: 9am – regular closing time
• Group Fitness Schedule resumes at 9am, No Childwatch, Pool will be closed, No gymnastics

Tybee

• Hours of Operation: 9am – regular closing time
• No Group Fitness

We appreciate your understanding and look forward to welcoming you back!

We want to thank all our members and staff for their patience and understanding during the recent closures due to Tropical Storm/Hurricane Debby. We are closely monitoring conditions and working with local authorities to ensure we provide a safe environment for everyone. Please review the updated information for each Childcare Learning Center (CLC) below:

Golden Isles

• Reopen: Wednesday, August 7th with normal center hours.

Habersham

• Closed: CLC will be closed on Wednesday, August 7th.
• Reopen: Thursday, August 8th with normal center hours.

West Chatham

• Closed: CLC will be closed on Wednesday, August 7th.
• Reopen: Thursday, August 8th with normal center hours.

We appreciate your continued cooperation and support. Please stay tuned for further updates as we work to ensure the safety and well-being of our community. Stay safe!

We want to thank all our members and staff for their patience and understanding during the recent closures due to Tropical Storm/Hurricane Debby. We are closely monitoring conditions and working with local authorities to ensure we provide a safe environment for everyone. Please review the updated information for YBASE (YMCA Before and After School Enrichment), childcare, and youth programs below, beginning Wednesday, Aug. 7:

NOTE: PLEASE CHECK YOUR LOCAL BRANCH’S INFORMATION CLOSELY, AS YBASE HOURS WILL DEPEND ON SCHOOL REOPENING DATES AND TIMES

Golden Isles (Glynn County)

• No YBASE: School start for 2024-25 has been delayed until Thursday, August 8th.

McIntosh (McIntosh County)

• No YBASE: School start for 2024-25 has been delayed until Monday, August 12th.

Liberty County / Long County

• No YBASE: School start for 2024-25 has been delayed until Thursday, August 8th.

Richmond Hill (Bryan County)

• No YBASE: School resumes for 2024-25 on Thursday, August 8th.

Habersham / Islands / Pooler / Chatham YBASE (SCCPSS)

• No YBASE: School resumes for 2024-25 on Thursday, August 8th.

Tybee (TIMA)

• No YBASE: School resumes for 2024-25 on Friday, August 9th.

Effingham / Effingham YBASE / CLC

• No YBASE: School start for 2024-25 has been delayed until Monday, August 12th.
• Summer Camp: Extended through Friday, August 9th.
• Delayed Start for Summer Camp: Wednesday, August 7th at 9 AM.
• Creative Critters: Delayed start on Wednesday, August 7th at 9 AM.

Statesboro (Bulloch County)

• No YBASE: School resumes for 2024-25 on Thursday, August 8th.

We appreciate your continued cooperation and support. Please stay tuned for further updates as we work to ensure the safety and well-being of our community. Stay safe!

The YMCA of Coastal Georgia won in three categories, and was a finalist in two others, in this year’s Best of the Coastal Empire Community Choice Awards, presented by Savannahnow.com/Savannah Morning News. The three awards are Best Childcare, Best Overall Leadership and Best Place to Work. The Y was also a finalist for best Gym/Fitness Center and Best Nonprofit. 

“We are proud to be recognized for our service of building stronger communities throughout the Coastal Georgia region,” said Joel Smoker, chief executive officer of the YMCA of Coastal Georgia. “Giving our community resources to grow and flourish, fuels our work on a daily basis.”  

The YMCA of Coastal Georgia employs around 1,200 people during the summer and roughly 900 during the school year at its eleven branches and childcare facilities across Southeast Georgia. 

“Our incredible team—their hard work and commitment to the Y’s mission—is what makes working at the YMCA so special,” Smoker added. “We are lucky to employ such dedicated individuals that serve our communities both inside and outside of work.”  

CLICK HERE to learn about employment opportunities at the Y!

With a mission to build healthy spirit, mind and body for all, the YMCA of Coastal Georgia is the largest non-profit childcare provider in Georgia.  

“Like all programs at the Y, YMCA Childcare strives to be a program that is open to families of all means,” said Becky Lehto, the director of childcare. “We strive to truly represent every aspect of the communities we serve and turn no families away that are unable to afford the program.”  

It’s accomplished, Lehto said, through a state partnership with the Childcare and Parent Services Program (CAPS) and an internal scholarship program, which is funded exclusively through donations by the community and corporate sponsors.  

“The YMCA depends on donations in order to bridge that gap between what parents can afford to pay and what it actually costs to run programs and especially to give scholarships to families who would not otherwise be able to afford to have their children in high quality childcare.”  

“It’s critically important in 2024 that the YMCA does this because the childcare industry as a whole is seeing a rollback in the assistance that’s been offered in the last few years with post-Covid funding,” she added.  

The YMCA operates four licensed, full-day child learning centers spanning Effingham, Glynn and Chatham Counties. In addition, YMCA Before & After School Enrichment (YBASE) is gearing up for the new school year where engaged teachers provide individual attention and small group activities at the school sight. 

“We train each employee on creating activities, program management, and engaging with children in a positive way,” said Joquana Kelson, YBASE director. “We provide daily curriculum, activities, and materials for the program participants.”  

Currently, YBASE includes about 115 employees and serves 35 schools in Chatham County along with school sites in Effingham, Liberty, Long and McIntosh Counties.  

“Our program is important because we provide a safe space for children in the community to come while their parents are at work,” Kelson said.   

In addition, Fun Club, a licensed after-school program offered at ten out of eleven YMCA branches, is a program aimed at supporting families with safe and fun activities outside of school hours. 

At the YMCA, children can engage in programming from birth through adulthood. Summer camp, leaders in training (LIT) and youth development offer support at every stage and age. 

 “We embody the same vision and mission as the YMCA of a healthy mind, body, and spirit for all and so we want to develop the whole child. We want to develop them social-emotionally, we want to develop them physically, we want to develop them academically so that we are sending children who are primed and ready for success into our local kindergartens where they are starting off on an even playing field with kids who have had the highest qualities of experiences,” said Lehto.   

For more information about childcare programming, CLICK HERE.

On Tuesday, July 16, the Habersham YMCA Leaders in Training (LIT) program welcomed Mayor Van Johnson to their Career Day Expo and embraced his words of encouragement. “You have a purpose,” said Johnson. “Every single one of you has this thing in you to do really great things. It’s in your DNA, you’re supposed to do great things.”

The YMCA Leaders in Training program fosters a culture of leadership, service and civic responsibility. It provides young teens (13-16) with training and mentorship aimed at connecting them to their potential and purpose.  

During Career Day Expo, the group presented their professional interests and future career goals which included being an accountant, electrician, an actor, executive producer and more. Adrienne Arkwright, the Habersham YMCA Youth Development Director, and Terry Hines were behind the mayor’s visit.  

“We want you around a board table” Mayor Van Johnson said. “Do you know what kind of stuff happens around board tables? Decisions are made around board tables. We want you to sit there, we want you to be comfortable there, and one day we want you to own this space.” 

For more information about Leaders in Training at the Habersham YMCA contact Adrienne Arkwright at [email protected]

We have been given the all-clear following the report of a potential threat at the Islands Family YMCA. The building has been thoroughly searched and confirmed safe by Chatham County Police Department (CCPD) officers, who were on site with K9 units.

While the building has been deemed safe, the Islands Family YMCA branch will remain closed for the remainder of the day (Wednesday, June 19). This includes all activities related to fitness, sports, camp, and childcare. We plan to reopen the branch at normal hours on Thursday, June 20 (4:30 a.m.)

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and appreciate your understanding as we prioritize the safety and well-being of our members and community.

Our staff, trained to handle emotional and stressful situations, will be available to anyone who has concerns or needs support. We thank the CCPD for their swift response and the use of their precinct and facilities.

Thank you for your patience and support during this time. We will provide any further updates as necessary.