At an event on Wednesday evening, the Wilton Family YMCA and the Norwalk YMCA announced that they have completed the final phase in their merger process, with approval from the respective governing boards to unite the two organizations. The impact of this merger will strengthen the communities of both YMCAs by enhancing existing services that focus on youth development, healthy living and social responsibility, and by creating new programs that build a strong foundation to grow these services to reach even more children, teens, adults and families well into the future.
“Our Wilton Family YMCA staff has had a chance to work with the Norwalk community during our two-year management agreement and we feel that we have learned a great deal just as much as we have contributed to programs there with our own expertise,” said Howard Steinberg, MD, president of the Board of Directors of the Wilton Family YMCA. “We look forward to developing new programs across our new larger service area with a great staff and in coordination with other community organizations.”
Carl Cooke, the chairman of Norwalk YMCA’s Board of Directors was especially complimentary of Wilton’s ability to bring resources to benefit Norwalk. “The need in our communities has never been greater and there is no better organization than the Y to serve those children, singles, families and seniors with essential programs.”
The new combined entity has been named Riverbrook Regional YMCA to introduce a new name to encompass a region that spans from the entire city of Norwalk, through the Route 7 corridor, including Wilton, Georgetown and Redding. Robert McDowell, the executive director of the Wilton Family YMCA, has been engaged for the past two years as the acting CEO of the Norwalk YMCA and he will now assume the new role as CEO of Riverbrook Regional YMCA.
“By working together we believe our new YMCA entity will be able to offer more diverse, better and highly tailored services to the communities we serve,” McDowell said. “Because of the collaborative relationship that already exists and the potential to provide enhanced opportunities to both areas, the time is right to transition to a single entity. We are committed to using our resources in the most effective way to ensure strong YMCA member services in all these communities with enthusiasm and pride, for many years to come.
About Riverbrook Regional YMCA
Serving the coastal city of Norwalk as well as the towns of Georgetown, Redding and Wilton, the Riverbrook Regional YMCA provides services to 134,000 residents across diverse communities. The YMCA is a member-supported charitable organization dedicated to promoting youth development, healthy living and social responsibility by offering a broad range of health enhancing, recreational, educational and social programs that are affordable and accessible to all people in the communities served. The vision is to use all available resources to maximize the personal potential of every person in the community who is affiliated with or takes advantage of the exceptional Y programs and facilities.