The Y of Central Maryland plans to build a new Y family center to serve more than 19,000 people in the Catonsville community with $325,000 in funding recently received from the Maryland House of Delegates and the Maryland Senate.
The Y received $200,000 from the House of Delegates with the passage of House Bill 1162 and $125,000 with the passage of Senate Bill 655, providing partial funding for the new center to provide expanded pre-school, after-school, wellness, aquatics, camp, youth sports and related Y programming for the Catonsville community.
The current center, on South Rolling Road, was built in 1972, serving 7,500, and is not of sufficient size to meet growing demand in the community.
“We use our resources to improve the community?s health and well being, to support our children?s development and chances for success in life and to enhance the quality of life in the communities in which we operate,” John Hoey, chief executive officer and president of the Y of Central Maryland, said in a statement.
“The support from our state delegation will help us further our mission in the Catonsville community,” Hoey said.
Hoey credited Dels. James Malone, Adrienne Jones, Steven DeBoy, Emmett Burns and Shirley Nathan-Pulliam and Sen. Edward Kasemeyer for their leadership in approving the funding.
Anyone seeking participation in a Y program can join, regardless of ability to pay. A full 33 percent of the Y?s budget goes to providing programs and services to people who otherwise cannot afford them. This was accomplished in 2007 through reinvestment of more than $11 million into scholarships and programs.
The Y is the largest private provider of child care in Maryland as well as the largest provider of Head Start.
