It's been my honor and privilege to serve on the Advisory Board of the Allegheny YMCA for almost a year now. The YMCA as a whole has provided fond memories from my youth as a place that our family shared many Friday nights together with swimming and gym time. However, while I remain a member of the Y and utilize the gym and pool for regular workouts, the Y has taken on a deeper role in my understanding of what it means to actively work towards social equity for all within our community. From the almost 80 rooms of transitional housing that the Allegheny YMCA has provided for many decades to food security programs, to summer camp programs to after-school care to proactively working towards integrating diversity, equity and inclusion as part of our everday dialogue....I could go on. I'm very proud of the work that the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh does through all the branches to further these efforts. I'm proud that this work has been recognized as being vital to the Northside community through the political efforts of the group below. The funding will go towards bringing the Allegheny YMCA building and services into the 21st century through a renovation and rehabilitation process slated to begin later this year. While the amount seems great, the truth is that our YMCA team continues to need to find creative ways to go after funding for what will ultimately be a $23 million pricetag to bring this building up to date, make the transitional housing somewhere each man can be proud of for the time it is his, make the building accessible to all and make the finite space we have now the most flexible it can be to support the varied programming the Y offers. If you would like to chat with me more about this project and how you might support us, please feel free to reach out. The opportunities are great and the need is as well. For now, perhaps consider, on the YMCA's Day of Giving, today, contributing toward sending a child to camp. Or providing meals for our local community.