Glenn Vickers is the new executive director of the YMCA East Hampton RECenter. He spoke to us about his experiences and his hopes for the community center.
So what brings you out to Long Island?
My background’s been with nonprofits in executive management, originally with the Great South Bay YMCA, I left there about seven years ago and took over boys and girls clubs. In a short time I was the director of operations for the boys and girls clubs in Virginia. And for the last two years I’ve been the director of a government leadership program in northern Virginia—to make our community a little better, in northern Virginia, I’ve been really fortunate to have this kind of career, working with citizens, just making our community a little bit better.
I’m the fifth generation of a Long Island family from Babylon. In terms of immediate family, we’ve all been here. It’s a reunion, I have my immediate family here; I have my new “Y” family here in East Hampton. It’s such a great community.
How does the YMCA in East Hampton differ from others across the country?
It comes to down to being the community center; that need is the same anywhere you go in the country, but here there is a different kind of leader and so many people united for local causes. One thing that’s different is how this place transforms the moment it gets warmer—how do you change that? Also it’s important to remember the YMCA is a charity. The Y is an outstanding charity, so we’re looking at how we can further that work. The big thing we’re going to do is work on increasing our numbers. I’m a big data guy; I like to look at the numbers and see the impact we create here. Our membership base is really big; we’re very strong in the East Hampton community, in Sag Harbor, even in Southampton. Montauk has been growing. Funny story: we were closed during the snow storm and we had someone travel through all the way from Shelter Island. The East End of Long Island really does participate. And the YMCA has been through a great transformation, and has made a big difference in the East Hampton community. It has a great foundation, a great board and a great part- and full-time staff.
What other programming are you looking to develop at the East Hampton RECenter?
Our senior program has been explosive. But there are a lot of things we could do for youth: more youth programming, teen services, a real career development center. We have a lot of great partnerships, we’re open to hear about other programming or other potential partners. What we’re able to do through our culture arts program is really a joint-venture with the Montauk Playhouse. It’s an outstanding dance, cultural arts program and it’s a safe environment; we’re able to provide a skill set for the kids in Montauk who otherwise would have to get to East Hampton. From my experience it’s so funny, it’s everywhere in the country, people don’t want to travel that extra nine or 10 miles. Be prepared to hear about a lot more collaborations; we have a lot of partners trying to expand their reach.
Affordable school-age childcare is really important for the working parent, and we want to continue that. We’ve got some great additions, some of the remodeling, in terms of it being more user-friendly and we have some new computers coming in for our teen programming: We’re bringing in technology for the students.
I’m always proud of my background in win-win scenarios. We have a lot of people who commute from New York City to the Hamptons but we also have year-round people who work so hard to provide for their families—let’s speak to our local communities. We’re local as well, and as we continue to grow we continue to make connections.
The YMCA East Hampton RECenter is located at 2 Gingerbread Lane in East Hampton Village. For more information call (631) 329-6884 or visit ymcali.org/easthampton
