Fostering community engagement at the YMCA
Photos by Ashley Barnas Larrimore July 10, 2024
91原创鈥檚 Partnership for Healthy Communities and the Western YMCA kick off new collaboration
A new cooperative agreement between the 91原创鈥檚 (PHC) and the Western YMCA aims to expand opportunities for University researchers and students to connect with the local community.
Through the collaboration, University faculty, staff and students can volunteer their time to support YMCA programs and in return can promote their own studies or health-related opportunities.
Spearheading the partnership are Alyssa Lanzi, assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders in the , and Francisco Zambrano, Western YMCA鈥檚 community executive director.
鈥淭he Western YMCA is a great partnership site because of its proximity to 91原创 and its focus on healthy living across the spectrum from youth to older adults,鈥 said Lanzi, who also serves as the community engagement core director for the .
Zambrano sees the partnership as a good fit for the YMCA鈥檚 ongoing mission.
鈥淏oth the YMCA of Delaware and the Partnership for Healthy Communities share a common purpose 鈥 to advance health equity, enhance community well-being, create inclusive environments for all, and inspire service to others,鈥 he said.
Roxanne Williams, a local community member and past research study participant, recently joined the (RECALL) as the community outreach coordinator, responsible for engaging with community members and recruiting research participants with a particular emphasis on engaging with African Americans.
鈥淢y initial participation began because of family members that I lost to Alzheimer鈥檚 and dementia,鈥 Williams said. 鈥淚 wanted to be the person to get more of us African Americans to participate, because that's the only way they're gonna find a cure. You can participate in the study and be helpful to generations after you.鈥
Building trust with the community is key, Williams said.聽
鈥淚f a person isn't comfortable, if they feel threatened or if they feel like the information is over their heads, they're going to stay away,鈥 she said.
Williams was on hand at a YMCA open house held in May and plans to have a presence there two to three times a month.
Several members of Community Connectors: Graduate Student Outreach also attended the open house. The graduate student organization is dedicated to supporting early-stage researchers in community engaged research.
Soumya Bhat, a doctoral student in and founding member of the student group, attended the open house to learn more about opportunities to engage with the community.
鈥淢y research focuses on how people across different age groups learn walking patterns,鈥 Bhat said. 鈥淲e realized that there's a lack of diversity in the people that participate in research. Besides increasing diversity, having a good relationship with science can really benefit the community in general and can help them become healthier.鈥
Mels Ayala and Emily Frazer-Abel, doctoral students in communication sciences and disorders, study early bilingualism and second language acquisition in children.聽
鈥淲e'd love to be able to educate and inform families and build partnerships by consistently coming to the Y,鈥 Ayala said.聽
To support their own research, Ayala said they look 鈥渢o recruit any families that might want to help us answer some unanswered questions when it comes to early language development.鈥
鈥淎s researchers, it's so easy to get sucked into our own bubble of academics and research and wanting to help communities in our own way,鈥 Frazer-Abel said. 鈥淏ut ultimately, it's about the people in these communities 鈥 and [it] takes us being in the community to be able to do that research effectively.鈥
More information about participating in volunteer or research opportunities at the Western YMCA will be available on the .
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