Keeping Kids Busy, Sacramento YMCA Summer Camps Continue With COVID-19 Precautions
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Are you looking for activities for your kid before the new school year begins? The Sacramento region YMCA is still open for business and ready to help.
"While we are social distancing, we are connecting emotionally," President and CEO Sharna Braucks said. "We never shut our childcare doors."
The YMCA is keeping that peer connection going and still offering programs for children from kindergarten through seventh grade. Braucks says the Y immediately went into "emergency care mode" once shelter in place orders happened. They've been following strict guidelines to provide a safe learning environment for students and staff, including daily temperature checks, increased sanitization, and requiring all staff to wear masks.
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They've also reduced the number of students in each program to about nine children to one staff member.
During a typical summer, the YMCA would use area schools to host their Summer at the Y programs, but that couldn't happen due to COVID-19. So, religious organizations and private schools stepped up to provide space for students to gather with their peers.
You just see that immediate connection and opportunity for the kids to really have a peer interaction again," Braucks said.
Braucks says the Y is offering supplemental learning to help students be ready for the fall. And while the upcoming school year is still in question, the YMCA wants to help fill any gaps that exist.
"YMCA is here, we want to be a partner, we want to help offer care for families who need it," she said.
There is still limited space available in the Summer at the Y programs, you can head to their website for information.