HELENA -- With gyms closed across the state, many think the directive that closed them is only affecting those who get a workout in before or after a day at the office. For the Helena Family YMCA, it's affecting many more than that.
"Our services start at three months old, and we have regulars who come into the YMCA who are 87 years old," said Helena Family YMCA CEO David Oclander. "So three month old to 87, we are doing it all."
When the directive to shut down commonly frequented locations like gyms, both Oclander and Tanya Eychner, membership coordinater and fitness programmer for the Helena YMCA, knew they had to spring into action for their members that span from the "Silent Generation" to "Generation Alpha," by not just providing physical activities, but resources as well.
"We want to just make sure and be able to connect with anyone who wants to look for some sort of community," said Eychner. "Whether it's through a workout, or through any of the other platforms that that we offer."
Right now, anyone across the globe can find those workouts on the Helena Family YMCA YouTube Channel and Facebook page, and plenty of other resources on their website as well. For Oclander and his staff, despite fighting a losing battle financially, they plan to keep up with the free online resources.
"Our position right now, is that we are not going to make this for members only, that this service is really vital to the entire community," said Oclander. "We're trying to live the idea of, 'We're all in this together,' and the way that we are living that out, is by making it accessible to the entire community."
