Due to COVID-19 crisis the YMCA worldwide  movement is facing a difficult time, the situation generated having a huge  impact on our activities: programs have stopped, hostels have closed, camps and wellness programs have been cancelled. The sudden loss in income means YMCAs are faced with shutting down operations and laying off staff at the very time when their communities need them most.

In response to this situation, the World YMCA created a Solidarity Fund which  provides grants and loans to the most fragile YMCAs, enabling them to continue to support their communities throughout and beyond this crisis.

The Fund is  managed by World YMCA with support from the Area Alliances, with oversight from the Solidarity Fund Committee appointed by the World YMCA’s Executive Committee. The Solidarity Fund Committee is the one to review and approve all grant decisions.

YMCA Romania Federation applied on behalf on National Office and of 3 local associations to Solidarity Fund, emphasizing the necessity of  keeping the youth workers and other essential staff to run the programs and the community projects, to build resilience.

On 2nd of June 2020, the decision of the World YMCA Solidarity Fund Committee was communicated to us, the requested grant being approved – 19.000 $.

According to the procedures approved by the Executive Committee, the application underwent a rigorous and transparent evaluation process. It was first evaluated technically by 3 assessors following strict non-disclosure rules, after which  each corresponding Area Alliance was asked to consolidate the existing information and provide feedback. Finally, the Solidarity Fund Committee reviewed all existing information and decided accordingly to award or not funding or establish certain supplemental conditions.
In mid June, an Grant agreement was signed between World YMCA and YMCA Romania Federation and after receiving the advance payment of 75% from the grant,  YMCA Romania Federation signed grant agreements with the 3 local associations included in the application to receive grants to support  human resources salaries: YMCA Baia Mare, Young Initiative, Student Plus Foundation.
Thank you for your important support for the YMCA mission in Romania!