When a new employer is considering moving to Plant City, one of the important factors in his or her decision is quality of life.
Is this a good place to raise a family? Are workers going to be able to access quality schools, a variety of churches, good government services and organizations that provide a place to enhance the body, mind and spirit of employees and their families?
Most say that Plant City is blessed with strong organizations that do a good job of addressing these questions. One of those organizations is the Plant City Family YMCA.
The Plant City branch has implemented numerous programs to help the quality of life in the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World, such as a free kindergarten readiness program, called Caring and Learning with Me, taught by a qualified teacher. It is available two days per week.
Plant City Y has also taught over 200 children how to swim for free.
But the latest program is a free parenting program, co-sponsored by City Pointe Church. The program serves to assist parents in learning new parenting skills and strengthening family relationships. Although the first session has taken place, there are two more sessions Friday, Oct. 16, and Friday, Nov. 20.
The October session will be taught by Jim and Sandra Carter, the co-creators of the Raising Incredible Kids parenting curriculum. The November session will be taught by Tim Gregory, a marriage and family counselor.
The classes are part of the Y Family Matters Series, an educational resource that focuses on building and rebuilding family relationships, including material, parent to child and blended families. They will be done in a question-and-answer format to teach families new ways to communicate, resolve conflicts and establish a solid foundation.
Classes at the Y, such as this series, provides something private-sector gym do not.
In the past 20 years, the private sector has built competing physical fitness centers to serve as alternatives to the Y’s package. These private gyms have taken some of the Y’s membership who wanted to focus on low prices and longer operating hours.
In response, Y’s nationally and our Tampa Metro Y branches have also decoupled membership fees. Members can now choose to join one branch, two branches or all the nearly 20 branches of our Tampa Metro Y. Decoupled Y membership rates have reduced the fee gap between the Y’s and the private gyms’ membership, but fee comparisons are only half the story of what the Metro Y and our Plant City Branch offer. Responding to the Y’s broad mission statement, volunteer Metro Y Board members have established the Y’s current Vision 2020 Strategic Plan program priorities, including closing the learning achievement gap in our public schools, chronic disease prevention and management, teen leadership development, and drowning prevention.
Some other Y programs established in pursuit of those goals are LIVESTRONG, a comprehensive program to assist participants in coping with cancer and diabetes prevention.
Private gyms are here to stay, and they do a good job of meeting the needs of some community members. But our Plant City Y goes well beyond being just a gym and makes a major contribution to the quality of life for Plant City individuals and families.
Y Family Matters Series
Raising Incredible Kids
WHEN: 6:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16
WHERE: Plant City Family YMCA, 1507 YMCA Place
Let’s Talk About Sex: Bringing Intimacy Back into Relationships
WHEN: 6:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20
WHERE: Plant City Family YMCA, 1507 YMCA Place
RSVP: JD Simmons, (813) 757-6677; jennifer.simmons@tampabayymca.org. The first 15 people to RSVP are entered in a raffle for free Y gear.
About the YMCA
The Plant City Family YMCA is part of a national network of several thousand independent, tax-exempt charities that got their start before the Civil War.
In 1889, the Tampa Metropolitan YMCA, with a mission of putting Judeo-Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all, was founded. Its first facility was established on Zack Street.
A little over 100 years later, a Plant City branch was established on Cherry Street, just north of Plant City’s downtown.
Following a major community fundraising campaign, a new Plant City Y was constructed in 2001 in the city’s southwest quadrant, off Alexander Street.
With heated Olympic-sized pools and air-conditioned basketball arenas and weight rooms, Metro Y membership grew as the community grew.
Felix Haynes is a co-owner of the Plant City Times & Observer.
