Tag Archives: YMCA

With the Northern Berkshire YMCA, it’s a problem of leadership

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As reported here on April 25 the Northern Berkshire YMCA in North Adams is putting the healthy and safety of its members and staff at risk. Given what’s transpired since, there is little reason to believe real change is around the corner.

The problems:

  • There are no phones or emergency buttons  in any of the locker rooms that would allow a YMCA member to get help in the event of a medical emergency in a timely manner. This means, Mr. Ihne and the YMCA’s board, headed by board president David Brown, are telling families that if their children are using the boys or girls locker room and something goes wrong: a fall, a seizure, some other medical emergency, they better have a cell phone on them, stay in emotional control, and call 911, or, as Mr. Ihne said in an April 17 letter to me, they can yell for the lifeguard (who very likely would not be able to hear them).
  • After the United States Department of Justice inspected city-owned buildings for ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) violations,  a  2012  settlement was reached. Since the April 25 piece the family locker room has been upgraded to ADA standards and grab bars have been put in half of the men’s shower area. Steps in the right direction. However, neither Mr. Ihne or Mr. Brown will say when grab bars will be put up in the other shower areas and the bathroom stalls throughout the building. They’ve been asked repeatedly.
  • And, as reported here on April 25, an individual took suddenly ill at the YMCA early one weekday morning losing control of his bowels in the pool area and in the locker room area. When YMCA members the next day noticed the area had at best been damped mop but was clearly not cleaned and disinfected, Mr. Ihne and Mr. Brown refused to say what protocol had been followed. Mr. Ihne declared a protocol had been followed but as of this writing, refuses to tell members what the protocol was. Given that the badly sick individual took ill in the pool area all locker rooms as well as the pool area should have been cleaned and disinfected.

If you thought the fact the city owned the building would prompt the city to take action, think again. Mayor Richard Alcombright has said he has great faith in Justin Ihne, the YMCA’s executive director and a major part of the problem.  Councilwoman Nancy Bullet said it is an internal matter. The office of State Senator Ben Dowling has, to its credit, been attentive to the situation.

Mr. Ihne and Councilwoman Jennifer Breen are in a league of their own. When Mr. Ihne (as well as the council members, Mr. Brown and others) were sent two  pictures (see below) of the entrance to the men’s sauna, only inches from where some of the man’s fecal matter had been discharged, pictures taken after Mr. Ihne said the area had been cleaned, Mr. Ihne at first denied the sauna entrance was anywhere near the problem. When he was told he was wrong, that those of us who were there saw the fecal matter right in front of the sauna door, Mr. Ihne responded with a burst of stellar leadership and announced he was blocking this advocate’s emails. However, Mr. Ihne was thoroughly outdone when it comes to outlandish and, frankly, childish responses, by Councilwoman Breen. She signaled her concern for the health and safety of the Y’s members and staff by asking not to be included in the email discussion. When asked why she did run for office if things like this didn’t concern her, she responded by sending me an email praising Mr.Ihne and calling me names. I’m told this kind of behavior is not out of character for Ms. Breen.

Here are the pictures of the entrance to the men’s sauna taken after the so-called clean-up.

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With the Northern Berkshire YMCA, it’s a problem of leadership

Posted on by
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As reported here on April 25 the Northern Berkshire YMCA in North Adams is putting the healthy and safety of its members and staff at risk. Given what’s transpired since, there is little reason to believe real change is around the corner.

The problems:

  • There are no phones or emergency buttons  in any of the locker rooms that would allow a YMCA member to get help in the event of a medical emergency in a timely manner. This means, Mr. Ihne and the YMCA’s board, headed by board president David Brown, are telling families that if their children are using the boys or girls locker room and something goes wrong: a fall, a seizure, some other medical emergency, they better have a cell phone on them, stay in emotional control, and call 911, or, as Mr. Ihne said in an April 17 letter to me, they can yell for the lifeguard (who very likely would not be able to hear them).
  • After the United States Department of Justice inspected city-owned buildings for ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) violations,  a  2012  settlement was reached. Since the April 25 piece the family locker room has been upgraded to ADA standards and grab bars have been put in half of the men’s shower area. Steps in the right direction. However, neither Mr. Ihne or Mr. Brown will say when grab bars will be put up in the other shower areas and the bathroom stalls throughout the building. They’ve been asked repeatedly.
  • And, as reported here on April 25, an individual took suddenly ill at the YMCA early one weekday morning losing control of his bowels in the pool area and in the locker room area. When YMCA members the next day noticed the area had at best been damped mop but was clearly not cleaned and disinfected, Mr. Ihne and Mr. Brown refused to say what protocol had been followed. Mr. Ihne declared a protocol had been followed but as of this writing, refuses to tell members what the protocol was. Given that the badly sick individual took ill in the pool area all locker rooms as well as the pool area should have been cleaned and disinfected.

If you thought the fact the city owned the building would prompt the city to take action, think again. Mayor Richard Alcombright has said he has great faith in Justin Ihne, the YMCA’s executive director and a major part of the problem.  Councilwoman Nancy Bullet said it is an internal matter. The office of State Senator Ben Dowling has, to its credit, been attentive to the situation.

Mr. Ihne and Councilwoman Jennifer Breen are in a league of their own. When Mr. Ihne (as well as the council members, Mr. Brown and others) were sent two  pictures (see below) of the entrance to the men’s sauna, only inches from where some of the man’s fecal matter had been discharged, pictures taken after Mr. Ihne said the area had been cleaned, Mr. Ihne at first denied the sauna entrance was anywhere near the problem. When he was told he was wrong, that those of us who were there saw the fecal matter right in front of the sauna door, Mr. Ihne responded with a burst of stellar leadership and announced he was blocking this advocate’s emails. However, Mr. Ihne was thoroughly outdone when it comes to outlandish and, frankly, childish responses, by Councilwoman Breen. She signaled her concern for the health and safety of the Y’s members and staff by asking not to be included in the email discussion. When asked why she did run for office if things like this didn’t concern her, she responded by sending me an email praising Mr.Ihne and calling me names. I’m told this kind of behavior is not out of character for Ms. Breen.

Here are the pictures of the entrance to the men’s sauna taken after the so-called clean-up.

100_3255100_3254

 

Once more into the deep!

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I’ve been afraid of the water since I was a little boy. Actually, to be more precise, I’ve been afraid of the deep water since I was a little boy. I’d ask the same question when, as a family, we’d be approaching a pool, lake, river. Is it over my head? And no, I’ve not forgotten oceans.  Never mind  oceans. I know all about undertows and know they’d drag me to my doom.  Forget oceans.

My fear had nothing to do with my ability to swim. I was a fairly decent swimmer as long as I knew I could touch the bottom with my feet. The moment I couldn’t, panic set in.

My fear of the deep water has always been with me.

Looking back. Both sets of grandparents lived in New Jersey. My father’s folks lived in Ocean Grove and my mother’s lived in Rumson. Both lived near the water. In fact, my mother’s parents lived right on the water. They had a couple of boats and, hanging off the end of the dock, was a minnow trap. One of my  chores was retrieve the minnow trap every morning. One morning I fell in. I must’ve been about five or six I suppose. The water was green and I was terrified flailing and then a strong hand grabbed me and pulled me to safety. My father had saved my life. It wouldn’t be the last time, either. Although he had died long before I got shot, there is no way I would’ve got back to my feet had it not been for my father’s presence in that moment with me.

Anyway, falling in, as you might imagine, did nothing to erode my fear. My next attempt at taking on the fear occurred when we were all at a public pool. It occurred to me that if I tossed in a kick board and swam to it, and then swam back holding on to it without touching the bottom of the pool, I could work my way from the shallow end to the deep end.  This is exactly what I did. Over and over I’d toss the board into the center of the pool, swim to it, hold onto it, and swim back. I made it all the way to the deep end and then, in an act that amazed even me, I jumped off the diving board into the pool and swam like hell to the side of the pool. When I got back to where my family was they applauded. They’d been watching.

Still, my fear of the deep water persisted.

Which brings me to the present. I moved to my new home in Berkshire County, Massachusetts a few months ago. I then got a membership in the YMCA. I knew, when I did so, that I was going to give swimming another go. It is unquestionably the best all around exercise there is and there is no doubt exercise benefits all areas of life.

September fifth was my first time in the pool. I swam one lap. I got out and sat in the sauna. The sauna, as far as I’m concerned, is the pot of gold at the end of the workout rainbow. The second time I went into the pool was on the fifteenth. I swam five laps. I began to increase the number of times I swam weekly and soon made sure to be there when the pool opened at 6 a.m. It was not lost on me that the man who swam  to my left every morning is going to celebrate his 77th birthday this February. He swims 36 laps every morning, one mile to be exact. The woman who swims to my right every morning swims in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 laps. She is 86. The man who swims to her right swims a mile every morning, he’s 70. You picking up on a theme here?

Anyway, I’ve been keeping at it. I now swim a mile every time I go to the pool, which is about five times a week.

Oh, and one more thing, the fear is gone. The only way to overcome fear is to head in its direction. Sometimes, you just have to swim there.

Breaking Hills Redux

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Back in 2003 I began training for my first lengthy bicycle ride, a 175-mile trek from where I was shot in Brooklyn to Albany. I live in a very hilly area so I began thinking of a motivational term I could link to the challenge of reaching the top of a steep and, at times, lengthy climbs.  Finally I decided on breaking hills. Breaking the hill meant defeating the climb, taking the challenge and pushing through it no matter how grueling.

For reasons that are not entirely clear to me, I am back on the bike breaking hills and loving every minute of it. Perhaps a recent reduction in coffee intake,  which brought about a nice drop in anxiety levels, helped me rediscover the joy of getting back on a bike and going for it. Then too, there has always been something about taking on a physical challenge, getting back in touch with my body, that I’ve found emotionally and spiritually healing.

Many years ago, around 1986 I’d guess, after nearly a year in seclusion, I began  going to the 23rd Street YMCA actually named the McBurney YMCA with my friend Dane.  The nine-story McBurney YMCA was built in 1869. When Dane and I went I’d play racquet ball, diving all over the court with a somewhat manic little boy joy. I was genuinely saddened when I learned the YMCA closed its doors there and reopened on 14th Street. I find it hard to believe that the Michael Bloomberg era of money first tradition last had nothing to do with creating the atmosphere that led to the building conversion to a bunch of condominiums in 2004. 

Later, in 1991 I ran my first marathon and from 1991 to 1995 tacked on five more.

At any rate, the spiritual glory of breaking hills is on me again. Recently a man in Long Island asked me if I was planning to do any more lengthy bike rides. I did the 175 mile ride  in 2003 and a 1,000 mile ride in 2004. I surprised myself when, without pausing, I said, “Yeah, why not?”

And I meant it.

____________________________

THE BEGINNING

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I start this journal hoping to be a voice that calls attention to what I see as an increasing disregard for human rights. Each of us is born with the right to be who we are safely in the world around us. The amount of hatred and emotional, physical, political, cultural and financial violence I see aimed at people because they have different beliefs is appalling, and violates everything a civilized society stands for.I do not know what impact, if any, the words I set down here will have. But I do pledge to be honest and avoid judgment as best I can, although that will be hard.

My life journey thus far has had its fair share of wounds and traumas. Because of them though I’ve done some learning along the way. While I will not burden you, the reader, with their every detail, I will identify some of the events that have led me to begin this journal.

I have, as the About Me section says, been shot in the head at point blank range and live with a brain injury as a result. I have lived through the suicides of my adoptive-mother, brother and birth-father. My adoptive father, the greatest gift life has ever provided me, died when I was 15. I have been on my own since I was 16. I lived through some years of homelessness and am a recovering alcoholic.

Well, there you have a bit of background. I have a few subjects in mind to write about in the coming days. In the meantime, I wish you well and thank you for taking the time to read this.

Warmth and respect,

Peter S. Kahrmann