Nearly $1 Million for YMCA of Auburn-Lewiston Secured by Senator Collins in Funding Bill in First Key Step

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 draft 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, which was officially released by the full Senate Appropriations Committee today and must now be voted upon by the full Senate and House.

“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 would 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 could be utilized by local residents and other non-profits for community events.  As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, I will continue to champion this funding as the appropriations process moves forward.”

The funding would be used to construct a Community All-weather Pavilion, which would 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 would 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 would 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 3 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 would not be otherwise locally available.