Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a senior member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that she secured $925,000 for YMCA of Auburn-Lewiston in the Fiscal Year 2023 Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill. As the Ranking Member and lead Republican on the Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Collins secured funding for this project in the bill.
The omnibus funding package passed the Senate by a vote of 68-29. It will now be passed by the House before heading to the President’s desk to be signed into law.
“Community institutions like the YMCA are wonderful assets for towns that bring families and neighbors together,” said Senator Collins. “This funding for the Auburn-Lewiston YMCA will significantly expand access to child care, creating a safe, structured environment for children to play and learn while their parents are at work. In addition, this new pavilion can be utilized by local residents and other non-profits for community events.”
“This six thousand square-foot Pavilion at our Outdoor Learning Center on Stetson Road in Auburn will dramatically increase the impact the Auburn-Lewiston YMCA can have all year long. From Summer Camp to Winter programs, area youth will have a safe place to learn and grow,” said Chief Executive Officer Steven Wallace. "We can not express the depth of gratitude and thanks we have for Senator Susan Collins and the support she has shown our organization, community and the entire State of Maine. Without the Senator's support, this project could not have happened."
The funding will be used to construct a Community All-weather Pavilion, which will provide a year-round, multi-use space for public, private, and civic use at the YMCA of Auburn-Lewiston's 95-acre Outdoor Learning & Education Center in Auburn.
The pavilion will increase child care and school age programming by adding up to 142 additional year-round school age slots per day to current YMCA programming. In addition, this space will allow the Y to better utilize "rainy day" spaces at its Turner Street location, which provides the opportunity to expand programming to an additional 70 participants per day. This capacity expansion is equivalent to three full-time large centers opening in the local area.
The Outdoor Learning & Education Center is open to the public, free of charge, from sunrise to sunset year-round. The Y also provides no-cost use of the property to dozens of community and civic organizations, and low-cost programming to public entities like schools, colleges, and municipalities, and as well as non-profits such as the Dempsey Center and hospitals. In a partnership with Evergreen Outdoor Education, the Y hosts local safety classes (hunting, land use, invasive species mitigation) and veteran outreach events that will not be otherwise locally available.
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