On June 29, 2011, the Greater Cincinnati YMCA voted to close two YMCA facilities located in the heart of Cincinnati proper with little public consultation, despite years of volunteer and monetary support from public and private entities to the facilities and seeking support to renovate YMCA facilities at its headquarters and building a completely new facility in an outlying area on Cincinnati's east side. In its mission statement, the national YMCA states that its strength is in the community, that the Y is community centered, and that they've been listening and responding to their communities for more than 160 years . The planned and executed closings of YMCA facilities in Cincinnati and other communities by local YMCA Boards across that country do not consistently adhere to that dimension of their stated mission as it appears that many planned closings come from top-down with little input from membership or community stakeholders before closure decisions are made. In Cincinnati and elsewhere, the communities should have a chance to salvage the investment they have made in their local YMCAs. In Cincinnati, the community is asking for a chance to save the Melrose YMCA in Walnut Hills and Williams YMCA in East Walnut Hills by extending the targeted closure date for the facilities to February 2012 and giving the community a chance to work to save the facilities.