Shortage of staff, money hamper new YMCA
All of the lights were out and the glass doors to the River Parish YMCA Youth Center on Paul Maillard Road were closed during the day – vacant of activity or children.
Lou Johnson, senior program director for the organization, says only one person is working at the center right now, and with all of his other job duties and responsibilities, he needs more help because he’s stretched too thin.
“We appointed Anthony Coleman to be the youth services director for the center,” Johnson said. “But he’s got a lot of other responsibilities besides working with the children.”
Johnson says the center needs more funding to hire the appropriate amount of staff required to keep the doors open longer for the kids in the area.
“Part of my responsibility is fundraising,” he said. “We have gotten some donations from the plants and the United Way, but to support a staff annually there’s a consistent amount of money that’s required.”
Johnson helps Coleman out as much as he can, but if the center was properly staffed, he wouldn’t have to be there as much as he is now.
“We welcome the support of volunteers,” he said. “But they still must go through the screening process.”
Johnson says the center is open for kids in the parish who are in middle school or high school.
“The center is open in the afternoons, year round, for after school programs, and right now since summer started, for a couple of hours during the day,” Johnson said. “We need the funding to hire more staff and we’re working on that right now.”
But by July 1, the YMCA is supposed to be open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Coleman has been busy screening applicants to help him handle the workload.
“With this program, we’re trying to build the bicycle and ride the bicycle all at the same time,” Johnson said. “That’s not an easy thing to do.”
Coleman is a senior youth coordinator for the program and will soon have to screen someone to take his place while supervising coordinators at upcoming sites.
“We are in the process of finding an East Bank location in St. Charles Parish to open a second youth center for the parish,” Johnson said. “Right now, we’re scouting areas in St. Rose.”
Johnson has already established a center in LaPlace.
“We need funding, volunteers and donations,” he said. “Eventually, we’d like to move to a bigger facility.”
Johnson says it costs about $300,000 annually to run the YMCA in Luling and to support the adequate amount of staff needed to keep the facility open.
“When we hired Anthony as our youth services director, we knew we were going to need additional staff,” he said. “All the applicants must be screened by our human resources department before we bring them on board because they’re working with children.”
The YMCA in Luling offers programs and after school activities like the Trim Club, a health initiative started to help curb the obesity problem in children.
For more information on how to make donations, help raise money for the organization or work as a volunteer, call 504-722-7207.
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