Support Your YMCA - Stories of Giving

$4 Million Van Cleve Foundation Trust Donation Brings Funds Raised for New Santa Ana YMCA to $10 Million

32,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility will meet the needs of 12,000 youth who live within walking distance, as well as more than 80,000 residing within two miles

Santa Ana, CA—April 26, 2007—With a $4 million donation, Russ and Kathy Van Cleve, trustees of the Van Cleve Foundation Trust, are bringing a new, state-of-the-art Santa Ana YMCA one step closer to reality. The 32,000-square-foot facility will be built on 2.5 acres of Armstrong Ranch land donated by C.J.Segerstrom & Sons in 2004. The land is located on the corner of Alton and Raitt Street in south Santa Ana.

“We were looking to make a generous capital donation to a project that would have a large, lasting and meaningful impact in improving the lives of many people,” commented Russ Van Cleve, Owner and President of Irvine-based Empire Homes. “For decades to come, this new YMCA will help thousands of children and families, including many who struggle with basic needs, make positive changes in their lives.” 

Facilitated through John Rochford, President of Snyder Langston and long time member of the YMCA of Orange County Board of Directors, the Van Cleve’s donation brings funds raised for the new facility to $10 million. With funds raised to date, plans have progressed through the preliminary design stage and have been approved by the Santa Ana Planning Commission and City Council.

Designed to meet the specific demographic needs of the surrounding community, the facility will incorporate a new soccer/sports field that will provide access to hundreds more youth who are turned away from soccer programs due to lack of fields and resources. Other highlights will include a fitness and strength-training center; an aquatic center with a swimming pool, therapy whirlpool and children’s fountain; a “12-week” fitness starter area; a youth and teen adventure center with a climbing wall and ropes course; a multipurpose room for dance and aerobics classes; a kids’ center; a learning and technology center with a computer lab and study areas for tutoring and mentoring; and multipurpose meeting rooms that will be used for literacy and other classes, employment counseling and community meeting space. Hoag Hospital will donate a wellness and community services center on the new YMCA campus. Additionally, the YMCA will partner with Hoag Hospital, local churches and other community organizations to provide health wellness and after school programs.

“The new Santa Ana YMCA will meet a critical need for a facility dedicated to building healthy spirits, minds and bodies for families and children of all ages,” observed Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido. “While providing a safe place for thousands of youth to engage in activities that will help them explore possibilities and reach their full potential, it also will provide peace of mind for parents who will know their children are participating in meaningful programs after school and on weekends.”

In addition to their financial gift, the Van Cleves are committed to making a donation of professional expertise to the project. “Beyond our monetary gift, we’d like to extend our involvement to encompass the building skills of the Empire Homes’ staff” said Russ Van Cleve. Founded in 1987, Empire Homes is a privately-owned land development and home building company based in Southern California. Empire Homes’ most recent land development project was the 955 lot Seneca Springs master planned community in Beaumont. The company ranked in the top 10 of some 270 homebuilders across the nation in three leading measures of customer satisfaction and received a 2005 Eliant Award, based on surveys of approximately 3,000 new home buyers.

As a result of his alliance with the Van Cleves, Rochford also anticipates personal and professional involvement in the project. “We’re extremely excited about the teamwork we can create by bringing the talents of Empire Homes and Snyder Langston into the project team,” Rochford said.

The new YMCA facility will serve approximately 12,000 children and teens who live within walking distance and some 80,000 who reside within two miles. It will meet the recreational, social and educational enrichment needs of more than 168,000 Orange County residents who reside in the service area of Santa Ana, South Coast Metro and parts of Tustin. As the final developed piece of the 90-acre Armstrong Ranch, it will complement Segerstrom High School, a 2,500-student public high school that opened in September 2005. The site also encompasses single family homes and is the future location of Christ Our Savior Cathedral.

When her two sons were younger, she barely earned enough money to make ends meet, let alone pay for quality child care. Fortunately, she was eligible to receive financial assistance from the YMCA, which enabled her sons to attend the YMCA after school program center located on campus.

The boys, now ages 18 and 16, and have done very well in school and are on track to attend college.

Jeri beams with pride as she relays this news. “I know in my heart that it would never have been possible if not for the support, homework assistance and guidance that they received from attending the YMCA.”

Today, Jeri’s 7-year-old daughter attends a Beach Cities YMCA After School Child Care Program. It will take a lot of hard work, but with the support of the YMCA she’ll have the foundation to follow her brothers to college in another 10 years.

Sandy had every quality that a foster mom should have. She was devoted to the five children that she adopted, in addition to her own three biological children. She was a delight to be around. When you met her you knew this was one of those rare people who could change your life just by being in her company.

Two years ago it was discovered that Sandy had cancer. Because of the circumstances two additional mentors were recruited for Sandy and her family. The mentors knew they would be taking on an additional responsibility and were more than willing to be there for both the children and Sandy as she went through her treatment.

Unfortunately, Sandy lost her battle with cancer this year. For the adopted children this was the second mom they were to lose. At the funeral, the ARK program director felt an overwhelming sadness for this family’s loss. But as the children’s three mentors came and sat beside her, she was comforted knowing that the mentors were there for the children not only that day, but for as long as they were needed.

So many times, especially near the end of her life, Sandy thanked the director for the ARK mentors. As a mother she could only imagine what Sandy would be thinking now, but she knew Sandy was grateful that someone had been there for the children while she went through the difficult process of saying good-bye and letting go.

The mentors continue to be a support and comfort to the children and to Sandy’s husband, Don, as they attempt to go forward. Although the ARK mentors couldn’t change the course of events, they could alter how it will ultimately affect the outcome. That’s what ARK Services for Abused Children is all about.

In the fall, staff members from each branch volunteer to individually meet with every employee, both full and part-time, to talk about how the Partner With Youth campaign helps the YMCA fulfill its mission to be there for all. Since September, 366 YMCA staff members have contributed over $48,000 toward their branch Partner With Youth Campaigns.

As the child care administrator for the South Coast YMCA and a past child care program director, Elizabeth strongly believes that it is important for staff members as well as donors to know the stories of how the YMCA supports the community.

After recruiting 22 staff volunteers at the South Coast Branch, the team personally talked to 130 staff members, raising almost $10,000. “They were a great team, passionate about the Y and strong believers in campaign,” said Elizabeth. “They wanted to share their personal stories and the stories of the families in their own programs that have been helped.”

At the South Coast YMCA, currently 109 of the 1058 children enrolled in Child Care wouldn’t be there without financial assistance. “Each of these children is a unique individual that impacts our staff and programs just as much as we impact them and their families.”

In 70% of those cases, a single mom, often working two to three jobs to provide, leads the household. “This is the neighborhood they grew up in. Their family is here; their support system is here. For a single parent it is important to stay where that is.” For them the YMCA is that vital piece of the puzzle gives them hope and helps them provide a better future for their children.

“Thank goodness for our generous donors; because of them we are able to be there when families need us most,” said Elizabeth.

One of those families last year included a mom diagnosed with cancer who needed part-time childcare for her son. Her cancer had caused her to quit her job, but as a stay-at-home mom she didn’t qualify under the standard YMCA financial assistance policy. “People don’t always have situations that fall neatly within our qualifying guidelines. She explained that she was going through chemotherapy and some days were too difficult for her to get to school in time to pick up her child,” said Elizabeth. “In the end, we created a solution that allowed us to have her son in the child care program whenever she needed it.” When asked how long she thought she’d need support her answer was simple, “Just until I die.” When she passed in 2004, Elizabeth was thankful that the YMCA had been that link to a community of caring.

That message - that the YMCA puts its mission into practice through the funds of the Partner With Youth campaign – is the reason the staff education campaign is so important to the volunteer staff who make it happen. “It was an excellent experience for new campaigners this year,” explained Elizabeth. “After they talk to new employees it affects how they do their day to day jobs. It all makes sense for them now.”

“I was sweatin’ bullets the first year, but it felt so good in the end to raise that money, that I knew I could do it again,” says Julianne. “I tell people constantly that every year it gets easier and easier.”

Julianne waves and calls out a hello to members young and old as she walks through the facility. Some are close friends that she’s made through the YMCA, but many others are members she’s befriended as fellow campaigners or people she has shared her Y story with as a campaigner.

After leading a team of four campaigners her first year, she led a division of between 20 to 25 campaigners during the next four years, and this year she leads a section with 50 campaigners. For each one of them, she brings a message that campaign can be fun. “I like the way the Y brings people together to do something for the community. The fun comes by working together as a team. The pats on the back that staff and members give keep you pumped up.”

Each year the YMCA asks volunteers from the community to dedicate the month of February to raise funds that keep YMCA programs open to all, regardless of financial need. In all, more than 650 campaigners have raised almost $1 million of their $1.25 million goal for programs and assistance such as camp, childcare, after school mentoring and tutoring, and youth fitness.

Together, Julianne and her campaigners have raised over $125,000 dollars in the last six years. For Julianne the impact isn’t the dollars she’s raised, but the lives she’s helped the YMCA to touch. At one campaign meeting, a young YMCA staff member shared the story of why she now takes a week of vacation each summer to volunteer as a counselor at camp. Raised as a neglected child in a troubled family, she got her first taste of camp through a YMCA scholarship. At camp, for the first time in her life, she felt the concern of staff who cared if she brushed her teeth, washed her face, and had pride in herself. That week gave her a new image of who she could be, and she continued her involvement at her local branch until she reached the point where she could become a staff member herself.

Julianne thinks of that young girl often when she’s asking for support. “I didn’t discover the value of the Y until I was in my 30’s. I don’t want people to wait that long. I want to make sure that a camp experience will be there for every child in time to make that difference.”