As part of the new Armed Services YMCA and Department of Defense Outreach Initiative, the Ventura Family YMCA will provide military families with free access to youth development, family strengthening, and health and well-being programs.

Membership fees will be paid for by the Department of Defense and administered through Military OneSource, an information and referral service for military families. YMCA of the USA, the national resource office for America’s 2,686 YMCAs, will help launch the initiative at participating YMCAs across the country.

“The Ventura Family YMCA is happy to help meet the critical needs facing families of deployed military service members,” said Jenn Rivard, member relations director for the Ventura Family YMCA. “Families are the most affected when a loved one gets deployed, so we are deeply committed to providing them with the support they need.”

The ASYMCA-DoD Outreach Initiative responds to a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008, which requires the secretary of defense to develop a plan to support military family readiness and to ensure that military family readiness programs and activities are available to all deployed National Guard and Reserve families, and some active duty families in certain special categories. 

Eligible military families participating in the initiative are eligible for free YMCA memberships based on participation requirements. Those eligible to participate in the new initiative include:

» All interested families of joint deployed National Guard and Reserves of all military branches.

» Families living in newly established Joint Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) bases.

» Active Duty Independent Duty station personnel and their families.

» Relocated spouses and family members of deployed active duty personnel.

“The YMCA has a long history of supporting military service members and their families — since the Civil War — so it was natural for us to join this initiative,” Jenn Rivard said. “During this time of conflict, it is more important than ever that we continue providing services and support to these families in the absence of a deployed spouse.”

Click here for more information about the ASYMCA-DoD Outreach Initiative. Click here for more information about the Ventura Family YMCA.

Amy Bailey is marketing director for the Ventura Family YMCA.