Sen. Jason Lewis and Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian Tour Melrose Family YMCA and Y Academy Early Learning Center
The meeting includes a discussion of the new realities facing child care providers post-pandemic and solutions to help working families.
[MELROSE, Mass. September 8, 2021] — Sen. Jason Lewis and Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian toured the YMCA of Metro North Y Academy Early Education Center in Melrose and the Melrose Family YMCA today. The YMCA of Metro North is a significant provider of youth development and child care serving 6,200 children each year in its four health facilities, five child care centers, and three summer camps across the region.
Sen. Lewis and Rep. Lipper-Garabedian met with YMCA of Metro North President and CEO Kathleen Walsh, Senior Branch Executive Katelyn Papadopoulos, and Kate-Marie Roycroft of the Alliance of Massachusetts YMCAs. YMCA representatives discussed their Y Academy early education program, their experiences providing families with child care during the pandemic. They offered their perspectives on the current challenges child care providers are trying to overcome and possible solutions to ensure working families have access to quality and affordable child care and early learning opportunities.
“It’s wonderful to have representatives in our district who deeply understand and care about the challenge of offering quality child care and early learning education post-pandemic,” says Walsh. “We are really grateful to Sen. Lewis and Rep. Lipper-Garabedian for their time listening to our experiences and offering smart solutions that can move the needle for thousands of working families.”
The YMCA of Metro North is currently enrolling students for the Fall and recently hired a new Director of Curriculum and Educational Advancement for its afterschool programs. It has also recently invested in new facilities for its child care center in Stoneham and at its newly opened Demakes Family YMCA in Lynn.
“As our families begin to come back post-pandemic, we are making investments in the future of our early learning and after-school programs to ensure children get a great start on their education,” says Papadopoulos.