The Great Miami Valley YMCA offers attractive employment opportunity for many ages
Ever heard of the term ‘legacy employee’? It’s a pretty rare phenomenon that occurs when the second generation chooses the same employer as their parents.
Finding one of your most important employers when you are only a child is pretty rare, but that is exactly what has happened for Suzanne Hamblin. Suzanne Hamblin is a second-generation Great Miami Valley YMCA employee, as well as the mother of a third-generation employee.
Working at the YMCA is often a first-time job opportunity for many teens, but it doesn’t end there, since moving into leadership roles is common and encouraged. Employees often start in roles like lifeguarding or as a camp counselor, where they get valuable experience with customer service, obtaining certifications, and developing problem-solving skills within a collaborative team environment.
Hamblin remembers growing up with her twin sister spending time at the Y while her mother taught swim lessons.
“Back when Fitton Family Y was the Hamilton West Y in the late 70s, we were always here during the summers when school was off,” Hamblin recalls. “The natural progression was for me to also become a lifeguard and start teaching swim lessons through high school and the beginning of college.”
At that point, Hamblin moved away and enjoyed a 17-year-long retail career, but when hard times came in the recession of 2008, she came back to her Y family, not just for work, but for rekindled community and leadership opportunities. She now serves as the Aquatics Director at the Fitton Family YMCA.
“The funny part was that I thought I was too old to be a lifeguard, but I got certified and went through my paces to become a lifeguard trainer,” says Hamblin. “I joke that I’m the oldest teenager here.”
Her son began coming to work with her and he has been a slide aide, Red Cross certified lifeguard, and pool manager at the East Butler Family YMCA throughout his teen years.
“At one point we had three generations on payroll here!” Hamblin laughs. “It was so convenient to know where he was, knowing he was in a safe and nurturing environment where everybody treats him like their own, just like it was for my sister and I.”
“While typically people join our Y team for a job, it is not unusual that before long they consider it a calling. The YMCA is more than a business, it is a cause,” says Woody Fitton, President and CEO of the Great Miami Valley YMCA. “So if you are looking for an opportunity to make a positive contribution to your community and be a part of a cause-driven organization, you should try the Y. At the YMCA we build strong spirits, minds and bodies for all.”
YMCA leadership pride themselves on offering an environment that works to develop the skills of their team members while living out their Christian values. They see it as a great place to make an impact on the broader community while also enrolling their own children in programming for reduced rates.
The YMCA’s core values of Faith, Honesty, Respect, Responsibility, and Caring are the standard to which the entire organization aspires, and it makes for a unique environment as an employee. Opportunities like sending children to YMCA Camp Campbell Gard in the summers and using on-site early childhood care and learning programs also make it a place where work and family life can flexibly coexist.
As children grow, many who participate in programming, like Hamblin’s son, find that it is a natural step to begin their first job opportunity as a Y employee.
Alexandria Robertson, for example, spent time on the swim team and playing soccer through the YMCA before her friends encouraged her to apply to become a lifeguard two summers ago.
“I was a shy 16 year old girl, and I was nervous since the other lifeguards seemed to know each other already,” says Robertson. “But I found out that they were welcoming and super kind, and I absolutely loved it.”
Starting her career at the YMCA gave Robertson opportunities to pursue personal development, both as part of the Member Experience team and in her own life.
“As a lifeguard, you have to learn how to take control of a situation and be a leader,” says Robertson. “I run into situations now outside the YMCA, like if someone gets hurt, and I can jump into the situation and get things done.”
The YMCA has openings in a variety of positions, and everyone can find their fit, be it a specialized position, a full-time one, or a flexibly scheduled part time role.
“There are tons of opportunities,” says Hamblin. “You just need to find your niche. You may have something presented to you that you never pictured yourself doing, and you end up really expanding your options.”
Interested in joining the Y family? Find current positions at https://www.gmvymca.org/apply-open-positions.