The YMCA is much more than a job to Jazlyn Gamble.
It’s a valuable source of family and inclusion.
As an employee, family comes in the form of the thousands of members who pass through the doors of the Downtown YMCA Welcome Center each month. Gamble, a greeter, has come to know many by first name.
As a mother, family comes in the form of engaging son, Noah, 9, and daughter, Brooklyn, 6, in the many activities and opportunities at the Y.
She enrolled them in the Downtown YMCA’s childcare center when she first began working there six years go. Today, Noah and Brooklyn take swimming lessons and are involved in basketball and gymnastics.
“I wasn’t a Y member as a kid, but it was important to me to get my kids involved,” Gamble says. “I love everything about the Y. I can’t imagine a better place for me and my kids.”
Gamble says she’s proud to be engaged with and employed by an organization that has a strong connection to community. YMCA scholarships for families who might not have the resources to pay for memberships is something she admires and is very proud of as an employee.
“I love how inclusive the Y is … regardless of income,” she says. “This goes back to the core value of the Y to care … That’s very important to me, especially as a single mom.”
At the top of Gamble’s own core values is being mom to Noah and Brooklyn and providing them with opportunities they enjoy.
She says she has great regard for the sports programs and the values of sportsmanship, opportunity and teamwork that are instilled by the staff in their young charges.
She knows that these same values carry into other parts of their lives – school, friendships and relationships, in particular – and are what they will value most as they grow up.
“Those values started when they were in the childcare program at the YMCA and continue with the Y sports teams,” she says. “I love how everyone gets a chance to play, the coaches are great with the kids, and there are sports programs for younger kids who may not otherwise get the chance to participate.
“Just as I’ve had the opportunity to create long-lasting friendships with staff and members, my kids have had the chance to do the same through their relationships. Everyone wins at the YMCA.”