YMCA Membership Financial Assistance - anyone applied for this?

[ksr5377]

I don't need all the details, I'm just wondering if this is something worth applying for.  We recently moved from an urban area, with lots of great recreation centers that had very inexpensive classes to a rural area that has the YMCA, where membership is over $900 for the year. 

[mommyoffive]

I was just looking at YMCAs and could not believe how expensive the memberships are.   

[Arcadia]

My friend got financial assistance from YMCA for her daughter to attend their summer camp. She asked at three YMCAs and went for the one with the highest assistance. She is a single mom.

 

An acquaintance had the course membership waived, and some discounts for gym classes for her kids. The course membership was $75 per year and is just for participating in classes and camps.

 

I don't know anyone who gets assistance for the full membership.

 

ETA:

Income tax and W2 is asked for.

Edited August 23, 2016 by Arcadia

[luuknam]

Around here you can allegedly get a 50% discount on your membership fee, if you're poor enough, iirc. We're not poor, so I'm not 100% sure.

 

I'd talk to them - it wouldn't hurt to ask what their rough guidelines are.

 

ETA: kids can do classes without being members (though members get a discount on classes, and can register a week earlier). Also, a family membership here is something like $660 for the year, but if it's just you or one kid, it's cheaper, so you'd want to consider if you need a family membership or individual membership.

Edited August 23, 2016 by luuknam

[UCF612]

We applied and got a percentage discount. We only joined because my son was accepted on their competitive swim team and we had to be members for him to participate. The Y director looked over our financials and read our letter, punched a calculator and gave us our discount. It made it feasible financially for us, otherwise my son would not have been able to participate on their team (the only local competitive team, the other local team is just rec which we did for 3 years prior but he maxed out there skill wise).

[Laurel]

We applied a few years ago and qualified for reduced rates. They don't give anyone a free membership, as they want people to have some ownership. The application (at ours at least) was not difficult - household makeup, income info, and a brief statement about how the membership would impact your life.

[MooCow]

I used to work there. Just bring in a copy of your taxes. At the one I worked at it was only that one center, not citywide.

Edited August 23, 2016 by MooCow

[Rachel]

I don't need all the details, I'm just wondering if this is something worth applying for. We recently moved from an urban area, with lots of great recreation centers that had very inexpensive classes to a rural area that has the YMCA, where membership is over $900 for the year.

You may want to see if they have any discounts. Our Y has family memberships for $25 per month for law enforcement and firefighters. It's normally around $90. Also, I can get an individual membership for me and the kids can still use the childcare without paying extra. If I want to sign one up for an activity the cost difference of paying the non-member price for them is usually still less than paying for a family membership. My Y doesn't have any kid classes included in the price so YMMV.

 

Not all Y's are created equally, you may want to see if you can try it for a week before you commit. I can use any location statewide with my membership, my Y is by far the nicest of the 5 or 6 I have used. It always makes me hesitant to recommend the Y to other people because I never know if theirs is nice or run down.

[BooksandBoys]

We were on their scholarship for several years. It was a fairly straightforward process to apply.

[amo_mea_filiis.]

We pay $20-$30 a year for our reduced membership. :)

[AnniePoo]

Around here it's assumed that most people won't be able to swing the membership: $100/month for a family.  Scholarships are freely given out, but you never pay less than 50%.  I keep telling friends to not hesitate to fill out the scholarship form.  They set the prices high to help fund the scholarship.  No shame.  

[alisoncooks]

We have applied and gotten memberships for several years. We received a discount on soccer and basketball, as well as PE. This year our local YMCA merged with another, and the scholarships became much more selective/minimal. :(

[abcmommy]

It was still very expensive IMO when I last got financial assistance- $40/ month

 

Previously we had a much better rate but we were much poorer and in a different (more urban) area.  Tht was also many years ago.