The Y’s of a Good Pair

Typically, when organizations merge it is because one is in trouble and couldn’t survive without the other. So it is a bit unusual for the Bangor YMCA and YWCA to agree to joint operations at a time when both are thriving. The agreement, approved this week by the boards of both organizations, will allow them to save money while offering more services to more residents. The decision should be applauded.

Such a collaboration was discussed for half a century before finally coming to fruition. In a community as small as Bangor it does not make sense to have two organizations providing similar services in competition with one another for funding and membership.

As their names suggest, the groups began with similar missions for different populations. The Young Men’s Christian Association was founded in London in 1844. The early goal of the organization was to help young men, who flocked to the cities during the Industrial Revolution, turn their attention to the Bible rather than the unhealthy social life on the streets.

Soon, swimming pools, bowling alleys and other venues for physical activity were added to the dormitories. Over time, the YMCA evolved to provide community services such as child care, youth sports camps and fitness classes.

The Young Women’s Christian Association was also founded in London, in 1855. It, too, provided housing and quickly began offering classes to enable women to pursue jobs traditionally held by men. The organization has long played an advocacy role, first for civil rights and then for women’s rights. It, too, evolved to provide child care, youth camps and fitness classes.

Today, most people have forgotten these histories and go to the YMCA on Hammond Street to work out at the gym or to the YWCA on Second Street for swim lessons or vice versa. For the average member of either group, the joining of the Y’s will not be noticed. Both facilities will remain open with one membership allowing access to both.

The benefits are many. For example, the collaboration means that popular exercise classes can be taught more often to accommodate more people. It means lap swimming hours can be extended at one pool while more time for swim meet practice can be offered at the other. In other words, conflicts over the use of resources – both fiscal and physical – can be minimized while offering more opportunities to the community.

Jeff Wahlstrom, president of the United Way of Eastern Maine, which gives $175,000 a year to the groups for youth programming, called the consolidation “a model for other organizations.”

The boards, which will be merged into one, are to be commended for making this move at the right time.