The world changed in March when the coronavirus pandemic struck the world.
When stay-at-home orders were put into place, the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas closed their doors. That meant that their after school program, which serves 4,000 children at 90 sites in 12 school districts, was also shut down and left hundreds of parents without essential childcare.
A week later, the YMCA launched its Emergency Child Care Program at 11 sites across North Texas. When Chase Oaks Church saw a need, they decided to help by opening up two of their locations for childcare and donating an initial gift of $100,000 to support the operation. That gift allowed for emergency childcare to be free of charge for the essential workers who need it.
Emergency YMCA Child Care is for children of those who serve as first responders, medical professionals, government officials, healthcare/hospital, grocery, logistics industry and other essential workers who must continue to work during this challenging time. This care will be offered until further notice at six YMCA branches across the Dallas area, in accordance with state guidelines. Chase Oaks’ initial gift is going toward the operational costs of the six locations that are currently available, and funding additional sites.
“We are overwhelmed by the generosity of Chase Oaks and their members during this time. When we made the decision to temporarily close our branches, we knew we needed to find innovative ways to serve our community to put our mission to work. Our community needs us just as much as we need them,” said Curt Hazelbaker, President and CEO of the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas. “When we first offered this service, we wanted to ease the burden on essential workers and have child care be one less thing they needed to worry about. The fact that these families now do not have to worry about the cost of care is such a blessing and will impact so many families selflessly serving all of us during this challenging time.”
"We are honored to be able to partner with the YMCA and expand the reach of what they are uniquely equipped to do for our essential workers,” said Glen Brechner, Executive Director, Chase Oaks Church. “It's a privilege to come together for the good of our community." Temperature screenings are taken prior to entry and throughout the day. Child care is currently limited to those who must have it due to their professional occupations. Spots are limited to 45 attendees per day, per location. The camp will adhere to guidelines by city, county and state officials including limiting group sizes inside of the camp to no more than 10 including staff. We will continue to provide this type of support and more as long as this crisis continues. For additional details regarding the Chase Oaks offer, please visit www.chaseoaks.org/ymca/ or contact the YMCA location where you plan to enroll your child.
We're proud to call the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas and Chase Oaks Church this week's KRLD Difference Makers.