Española YMCA Teen Center News:
In compliance with the governor’s guidance on reopening summer youth programs, the Española YMCA Teen Center (EYTC) will resume operations at noon Wednesday, June 17, in a modified format and with shortened hours,12-6:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
In order to minimize risk, EYTC will reopen to current members only for the time being, and require that all parents/guardians sign an acknowledgment and assumption of risk of COVID-19 before youth may enter, Center Director Ben Sandoval said.
Sandoval said that youth’s temperature will be taken upon arrival with a touchless thermometer at an outside screening station, and no admittance will be allowed to those registering 100.4 or above. For youth who arrive with a temperature, parents will be notified to pick up their child and referred to medical professionals, he said.
“Both staff and youth are anxious to return,” Sandoval said. “We will implement best recommended practices. The phrase social distancing tends to sound harsh, and may have an adverse effect on the emotional state for teens. We will utilize the term “physical distancing” in hopes to remind them to minimize physical contact, and at the same time encourage open communication with peers and staff. We are eager to build new relationships, and to help teen members resume a sense of normalcy in this abnormal state that we are experiencing.”
“This has been a stressful time for staff and teens. We have missed the laughs, the tears and all our interactions with our teens. We are deeply saddened by the fact that we have not been able to be present in a way that we are accustomed to be in their lives. We are a significant resource to the community, several students have asked for a long time when we would reopen, and when they could attend their home away from home,” Sandoval said.
Sandoval said signs at the facility will ask people not to enter if they have been sick, or around anyone who has been sick in the last 14 days, and that we expect youth respect this social contract.
“We are extremely grateful for our partners, who have continued to fund us during this shutdown,” Sandoval said. “We even got new two funders during this time-the Los Alamos Community Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) support through the New Mexico Humanities Council (NMHC), which is helping support our arts and photography program.”
“And our past supporters have stayed with us,” he said, “including Anchorum Christus St. Vincent and the Lineberry Foundation. Overall, these private foundations have understood what it means to be there for us during this time of need.”
Sandoval said that all teen center staff members have been tested for Covid-19, and that both staff and youth will be required to wear masks. He said the facility has been rearranged to support physical distancing Signage and staff will emphasize frequent handwashing, and staff will be disinfecting areas on an ongoing basis.
