The Future is Bright
YMCA Enterprise Zone
By Tabitha Ervin
Contributing Editor
As a follow up to the YMCA of Greater Fort Wayne Press Conference about the Enterprise Zone, I sat down with Chris Angellatta, President and CEO and Amos Normas, District Executive Director to discuss a few more details and learn about how this new entity of the YMCA will serve our community.
Ervin: Thanks for sitting down with me to talk more about the Enterprise Zone! So Chris, how long has this idea been in the works?
Angellatta: A few years although we’ve had ideas for that land for about 10 years now. I’d say late 2018 we started formulating this specific idea. We had a Hope for Youth Initiative in which we wanted to make sure that we were continuing our commitment of serving youth in this community. We also started doing free 7th grade memberships as a part of this commitment. Then in 2019 Amos and his team started doing more career readiness programming and this idea is an expansion of that.
Ervin: So how will the building serve the community exactly?
Angellatta: First, I want people to know that it is open to everyone in the community and people don’t have to have a Y membership to participate. We will also have various partnerships connected to the programming we will offer as well as work with other youth serving organizations so they can use the space as well. Lastly, most programs will be free and some may have a small cost for supplies or for us to host field trips.
Norman: We are focusing on 3 C’s which are: Construction and trades, Computer science and manufacturing and Culinary Arts in the teaching kitchen. Our target age will be middle school and up so that people can grow with the program. We will also have adult classes with Ivy Tech, one of our partners, in the skilled trades workshop that we are building.
Ervin: This is excellent and very exciting! So at the press conference you kicked off the fundraising efforts. Is there anything people need to know about that and when can we look for this project to break ground?
Angellatta: We have started the fundraising process and we are looking at a little over 7 million dollars to raise at this point. There are giving levels and naming opportunities and people can contact me for those questions. It will be a 16-18 month process and we look to break ground in the 1st quarter of 2023.
Ervin: Is there anything else?
Norman: We currently have an IDOE grant which we are using for college and career readiness as well as career coaching for our youth. We look to continue that work and more with our career coaches into the future with the programming at the Enterprise Zone. This program provides our youth with career coaches who meet with them daily and help them chart their path for the future. They do a personality assessment that creates a profile through software we use and then pairs the youth with jobs that fit what they like. This is exposing them to new ideas and connecting them with professionals in the community!
Thank you both and we look forward to the Enterprise Zone in the future!
For more information about donating contact Chris Angellatta at 260-918-2158 or chris_angellatta@fwymca.org.
For questions about programs and partnerships contact Amos Norman at 260-755-4882 or amos_norman@fwymca.org
