Welcoming Week at The Gateway Family YMCA

The Gateway Family YMCA will join Welcoming America and other YMCAs and organizations nationwide to celebrate immigrants' contributions to communities and bring together all residents in a spirit of unity. Welcoming Week 2021, held September 10-19, follows the theme "Belonging Begins With Us" and brings together immigrants and U.S.-born residents to promote cross-cultural understanding and raise awareness of the benefits of welcoming everyone. The Gateway Family YMCA has celebrated Welcoming Week with its community consecutively over the past few years, as part of a commitment to the mission of serving all members within the local community.

Welcoming Week 2021 information is available at www.tgfymca.org/events and includes a YMCA Membership Special, providing a No Joiner Fee online registration code for those who join the YMCA September 10-19 at www.tgfymca.org/join-the-Y as well as programs and services open to the community. To ensure the safety and participation of all, the Y's 2021 Welcoming Week event will include virtual programs and events for the community and Virtual WISE Services, and in-person events for YMCA program participants in Child Care, YMCA Residential Housing, Aquatics, Group Exercise and Wellness programs.

"It is critically important to celebrate Welcoming Week in 2021, as our country faces the COVID-19 pandemic and social isolation continues," said Krystal R. Canady, CEO, The Gateway Family YMCA. "At the Y, we seek to build bridges and heal communities, and we invite neighbors—both immigrants and U.S.-born residents—to use Welcoming Week as an opportunity to connect, find common ground and celebrate our shared values and contributions," stated Melynda A. Mileski, EVP, Chief Operating Officer.

During Welcoming Week, The Gateway Family YMCA, along with Shaping Elizabeth and Shaping Eastern Union County, will host virtual Chronic Disease Self-Management programs free to the local community including BPSM Healthy Nutrition Presentation, Blood Pressure Self-Monitoring and Diabetes Empowerment Education Programs. Program schedule information and registration is available at www.tgfymca.org or by contacting Paul Mickiewicz, Senior Director of Healthy Living bpsm@tgfymca.org or 908-349-9622.

Additional program components include a Bring a Friend day in The Gateway Family YMCA's Virtual Enhance Fitness for Arthritis programs, a Virtual YMCA Membership Open House, and social media engagement activities throughout the week at www.facebook.com/GatewayFamilyY Community members are encouraged to visit our website and social media channels to participate in Welcoming Week 2021.

The Gateway Family YMCA is a leading 501(c)(3) non-profit, health and community service organization committed to strengthening community by connecting all people to their potential, purpose and each other. Working locally, the Y focuses on empowering young people, improving health and well-being, and inspiring action in and across communities. By bringing together people from different backgrounds, perspectives and generations, the Y ensure that all have access to the opportunities, relationships and resources necessary to learn, grow and thrive.

Welcoming Week is celebrated each year in September and elevates the growing movement of communities that fully embrace new Americans and their contributions to the social fabric of our country. It is a chance for neighbors – both immigrants and U.S. born residents – to get to know one another and celebrate what unites us as a community. For more information and registration links for Welcoming Week 2021, visit www.tgfymca.org/events

For more information about The Gateway Family YMCA visit www.tgfymca.org