Eighty families impacted by recent YMCA after school programs closure

MIDDLETON, Wis. (WMTV) - Several families need to find after-school care as a result of the YMCA of Dane County closing four on-site or in-school programs.

According to YMCA Dane County West Branch executive director Katie Martinelli, 80 Dane County families will be impacted because the agency closed four of their 32 after-school programs.

Middleton mother of two Alexandra Anderson said she’ll need to change her back-to-school plans quickly, after a weeks notice.

”I feel a lot of panic,” Anderson said. “I feel scared about not being able to work. My brain goes all the way to losing my housing and not having any sort of stability.”

Anderson said at this point, other after-school programs are too expensive, far away, or full. She said several programs do not accept WisconsinShare, a subsidy that her family needs.

”I really wish they had given me more time or all of the families more time so we could’ve made different arrangements,” Anderson said.

”We needed to make sure that we were un-turning every stone that we possibly could for these families before we made these difficult decisions,” Martinelli said.

Martinelli cited an extreme staffing shortage for the reason the YMCA could no longer operate these sites safely in an email sent to parents on Tuesday.

She said with 10 roles to fill and zero applicants, the YMCA had no choice but to shut down sites with historically lower enrollment and staffing issues.

Anyone 18 years or older with a high school diploma or G.E.D. can apply at the YMCA’s website.

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