Greater Burlington YMCA | Here For Good ™

The Y Beyond Walls

THE Y MISSION: BIGGER THAN A BUILDING! 

For over 150 years, the Y has delivered on our mission to build a strong community. What this has looked like has changed as the Y adapted to meet the needs of those we serve. While today’s realities may impact how we deliver on this mission, we remain committed to our community. Together, WE ARE Y STRONG! 

Allow us to share resources and information you can use at home while we all do our part to curb the spread of this virus. It’s our way to help you to stay active, engaged, and connected in your own home, and in your own time. 

In this post, you will find resources on the following topics: 

• Staying Safe & Managing Stress 
• Stay Active from Home 
• Food and Cooking Resources 
• Miscellaneous and Fun 
• COVID-19 and Our Y

Staying Safe & Managing Stress 

From the CDC: things you can do to support yourself and manage stress.

Fear and anxiety about a disease can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions in adults and children. Coping with stress will make you, the people you care about, and your community stronger. Some tips: 

• Take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including social media. Hearing about the pandemic repeatedly can be upsetting. 
• Take care of your body. Take deep breaths, stretch, or meditate. Try to eat healthy, well-balanced meals, exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep, and avoid alcohol and drugs. 
• Make time to unwind. Try to do some other activities you enjoy. 
• Connect with others. Talk with people you trust about your concerns and how you are feeling. 

• How to talk to kids about COVID-19 (Coronavirus) 
• How to protect yourself from COVID-19 (Coronavirus) 

Stay Active from Home 

We’re connecting with our YMCA network and working on several options, so you can participate in all levels of fitness classes in your home. Here are a few we’ve identified: 

YMCA 360 

A group of Ys have joined forces to create an on-demand healthy living network called YMCA 360, which includes virtual programs that can be accessed anywhere. The team behind YMCA 360 has made this programming available for free to all Ys to share with their members and community. The YMCA 360 team will continue to add to the content, including programs for kids and families! 

Click here to access YMCA 360.  

YMCA @ HOME 

YMCA of Greater New York has also created a platform of online workout videos. YMCA @ Home is a free source for fun workout videos. 

Click here to access YMCA @ Home. 

Free* MOSSA MOVE On-Demand Workouts 

We have partnered with MOSSA to provide a 60-day free trial. The MOSSA Team designs each workout with options and modifications so you can choose the intensity and challenge that are just right for you. While free to get started, please note you will need to create an account, which includes entering a credit card in case you want to continue past the free trial. Remember, if interested in canceling after the 60-day trial, set a reminder to cancel before the first payment is due! 

Click here to access MOSSA workouts. 

Download the GBYMCA mobile app 

It’s fun and challenging to set goals for yourself on the GBYMCA app! Download the Greater Burlington YMCA Mobile App in the App Store or Google Play Store. You can sync other fitness apps with it to keep yourself on track, and manually enter your workouts as well. Set some goals! Walk 80 miles in 30 days? Challenge accepted! 

Click here to go to the App Store. 

Click here to download from the Google Play Store. 

Discover Ways to Safely Get Outside. 

Try to get outside each day! If you are not feeling well, please stay home. If you decide to take advantage of fresh air to go for a walk, hike, or bike, go alone or with members of your household only — and maintain the safe distance of at least six feet from others. Great places to walk in the area include: Burlington Bike Path, Shelburne Farms, Mt. Philo, even your own neighborhood! To read a message from the Vermont Department of Forest, Parks & Recreation, click here.

Food & Cooking Resources 

Free meals for kids under 18 
If you have or know kids under 18, local school districts are providing free breakfast and lunch! Check your local school website for pick up locations. 

Cooking at Home 

Cooking together with a partner or family is always a great way to connect and keep yourself healthy and nourished. Here are a couple of websites that have good recipes for healthy meals: 

• • • Budget Bytes: A web site of quality recipes that keeps budgets in mind when creating great food for your family. 
    • Hunger and Health: A web site full of quality, healthy recipes, that have been vetted using criteria developed by Feeding America® and external content experts.
    • Americas Test Kitchen Kids: The ATK Kids website is chock full of recipes, quizzes, and activities that are great for kids and fun for the whole family. 

Miscellaneous & Fun! 

This is likely to be an evolving section, but let’s get started with a few resources that can keep us all busy for quite some time. 

• • Looking for a virtual getaway? Travelzoo just shared this brilliant compilation of 20 amazing places you can visit without leaving home. Each location shares links that will remind you of the incredible world we live in! Perfect timing for a mental escape, don’t you think? So, start your travels by clicking here.
  • Burlington’s Fletcher Free Library:  Hey, why not attend a virtual event! Check out what the Fletcher Free Library has on their virtual events calendar by clicking here. Great options for kids, families, and adults! Tours of the New England Aquarium, homework help, a night at the Metropolitan Opera, and more. Sounds like fun, right?
  • Learn with the Smithsonian! You will find a wealth of resources and digital tools support inquiry-based learning and active engagement to spark creativity and curiosity. Visit their special site for educators, or any of the following: The Smithsonian Learning Lab allows you to create personal collections and individualized educational experiences. The digital Game Center of the Smithsonian Science Education Center offers fun experiences for the young STEM learner. Smithsonian’s History Explorer offers hundreds of free, innovative resources for learning about American history. 
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The collection is vast and incredible! And, the Museum has put a collection of online resources right at your fingertips. Click here to check it out! 

  • Virtual Tours of National Parks on Google Earth:  There will be opportunities down the road for you to go to the national parks and see the red rock, desert landscapes, and sweet cactuses for yourself. In the meantime, you can click here and go on virtual tours!

COVID-19 and Our Y

The doors to our new facility may remain closed, but we will continue to find ways to support you and our broader community. The resources we have provided on this page are just one of our efforts.

The Y Response

The Greater Burlington Y is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by: 

• Providing early child care for our region’s health care professionals so that they can do their crucial work.  
• Working with local schools to provide staffing for school-age child care for our region’s essential workers. 
• Providing a growing library of online workouts and other resources free for the community (see above). 
• Offering creative solutions to keep the community together such as live-streaming Dynamo Swim Team activities. 
• Preparing for when we can re-launch our full range of services to improve health, and to give children the best start in life. 

The challenge

Right now, our major sources of income – fees for membership, programs, and child care – have all but stopped. Right now, across the nation, Ys and other non-profit organizations are simply trying to survive. 

Your Y has thrived in Burlington since 1866. We are here for good. The Y  is determined and experienced at navigating challenges. But we can’t do it alone. We have created a special fund – THE Y STRONG FUND – to support the areas of greatest need for our organization at this stressful time. Together we will overcome this challenge. If you are interested in supporting the Y Strong Fund, click here.