Background: The indoor playground at YMCA, a service provided for years to families as part of their “youth” membership, is now only accessible for families with “family” membership, while all others must pay a daily fee of $10.Prior to the current fees for indoor playground, families used to be able to purchase youth memberships for each of their children ($165 per child per year) and now they are being asked to pay over $1800 per year. A typical family of four will go from paying $330 per year to over $1800 per year, making access prohibitive to many working class parents with few affordable options in the community.

Petition:

We, the families of the YMCA, for many years, have used the indoor playground for our children to have an affordable space to play, socialize, exercise, and work on motor skills. It is one of the few programs offered in downtown Manhattan where this type of program exists and is accessible for a wide range of income levels.

By adding this fee, it is taking away from the YMCA families with “youth”membership the ONLY service that a young child can participate without additional cost. We believe this goes against the mission of the YMCA to “Improve our community’s health and wellbeing” for ALL of its members. It also clearly discriminates against lower income families who have relied on the affordable Youth Membership as a way for their young children to get daily exercise throughout the year and for many years.

Also, many of these children, who have been coming for many years, have built strong community bonds. Separating these children and preventing them access, we believe, goes against the spirit of what the YMCA is about.

Young children need to be nurtured and provided with programs that make a positive difference in their lives.We request that Chinatown YMCA stays true to their mission and maintains the Indoor Playground free for ALL levels of membership of the YMCA without exception.

If you agree with the points raised in this petition, please sign and let the Chinatown YMCAknowthat you support keeping the indoor playground affordable for ALL community members!