19 YMCA locations spread out across the Twin Cities are offering free summer memberships for teens entering 9th through 12th starting Monday.
The free memberships, made possibly by the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation and the YMCA of the North, give teens access to a number of different in-person and virtual programming opportunities including health and wellbeing classes, access to gymnasiums, fitness floors, and aquatics areas.
"One of the things it's really all about is making sure young people have a safe space to go, be themselves, and be with their peers," said Katie Lowe, an executive director at YMCA of the North. "They can come to the YMCA anytime that we're open and access any of the program areas that are open."
Throughout the summer the YMCA offers youth-led activities that staff members develop with help from the ideas of youth and teens. Those activities include things like basketball tournaments, STEM projects, or aquatic activities.
"We hear a lot that just having access and being able to come in, use equipment, be in the gym, and choose what they want to do everyday is really important to these youth and families," Lowe said. "Also, then we have pockets of individuals, who a couple of summers ago had a weight lifting tournament, because that's what that group wanted."
Lowe says between 4,000 and 5,000 young people will utilize the YMCA's free memberships between June 5 and August 31. More than 80 percent of Twin Cities teens live within 15 minutes of a YMCA location.
"This impacts families," added Lowe. "Whether parents are at work or working from home, it gives young people a space to be in addition to their home that is impactful and their parents know their young person is in a space that is welcoming and that they have something to do other than whatever else they would be doing."
The easiest way for a teen to access a free YMCA summer membership in the Twin Cities is by registering online.
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Lowe says the YMCA's Career Pathways program continues to grow in popularity. The program is designed to provide youth ages 14–24 who historically have faced systemic barriers to employment the opportunity to be introduced into the workforce by getting an internship at the Y.
"It's an opportunity for individuals to learn skills, job readiness, workforce development skills, and learn a little bit more about what they might be interested in."
Program participants receive between 20 and 50 hours of training and exploring opportunities followed by about 100 hours of a paid internship.
"We really try and create a foundation for young people and young adults so that they are really successful in their internship that we connect them with and also then their first job out in the workforce," Lowe said. "Even if they don't like their internship, now they have something that they know maybe they don't want to do. That's really important as you explore what you want to do for the rest of your life."