1. Growing With The Times
By David Wilson
TTIhe YMCA is a good
I place to get started
I living a healthier
lifestyle, and the new edi-
tion of the James A. Henry
Branch at the Eastgate
Town Center has really
taken off on solid ground,
said executive director
She'rri McCle1lan.
The branch was named in
1953 forJames A. Henry who
was the first African-
American principal of a
school in Chattanooga in
1894.
There is a lot of history at
the J. A. Henry YMCA, and
one day soon She'rri will
have a waII of distinguished
people at the new location.
She would like to have a fam-
ily reunion for everyone who
has ever been a member of
the branch, and she would
like for them to take part in
the festivities when they
have their reunion. Many
people learned how to swim
there and some played
checkers there. These are
the older members that go
back to the beginning and
she feels they would enjoy
the reunion, She'rri said.
The real reason for the
move from Park Avenue was
to increase the rnembership
because it had become stag-
nated or, even better put, non
existent, and it was time to
come on line with the new
generation of fitness, child
care, preschool and health
awareness that is now preva-
lent in our society, she said.
She had a goal to increase the member-
ship and get more money from the pro-
grarns that she offered and it has worked
far beyond her projections, because when
they were located on Park Avenue they
didn't have any members, iust people
using the facility, and now they have
almost 600 members since March, she
said.
She'rri has been with the J. A. Henry
YMCA for one year. She started at Park
Avenue and when it was time to move she
worked with the architects and took paft
in the planning and designing of the
r6
Photos bY Charles PaYne
Mrs. She'rri McClellan knows her business which is working with
people and she has a knack for getting the best out of them.
She'ri keeps a smile on her face because she loves her work .
building and ordering the carpet, paint
and furniture. It was definitely a grass-
roots project that she is very proud of, she
said.
It's really going great and she couldn't
have found a better place to relocate the
center, she said. They have been able to
triple their day care and are able to hold
B0 children in their preschool, even
though they don't have that many yet, but
it is more than what they had at Park
Avenue. They have eight classrooms for
their licensed preschool and a fenced-in
playground is under construction that will
have trees for shade and a
community room for different
organizations to hold meet-
ings and receptions.
The YMCA offers a mem-
bership nursery for parents
with children who are six and
under and a teen center that
has computers, board games
and table tennis to eneourage
people with ehildren to come
and enjoy the facility and not
worry about the kids. This
used to be a deterrent for the
YMCA in gaining members
and for members who were
parents because they had no
one to watch their children
for them while they worked
out, she said.
They have a spacious facil-
ity that has a men's and
women's locker room and a
glrmnasium with six basket-
ball goals that is lined for vol-
leyball. It has a sauna and
steam room and a cardiovas-
cular machine on the premis-
es. As you can see, they are
well equipped, as they should
be because they are under
the umbrella of the
Chattanooga Metropolitan
YMCA. The Henry YMCA
though, is unique and has its
own personality in that it's
not so big you have to wait or
so small that there is no room.
The teen center offers things
through networking to help
the teens get involved with
other students in the organi-
zation, Mrs. McClellan said.
She'rri was determined not
to bring any of the o1d furni-
ture with her from Park
Avenue, because they wanted
to create a new image and encapsulate all
the positive things that were at the old
facility but start a new era at their new
facility. A lot of help came from suppo6
ers who were partners with them in this
venture and it has paid off.
The board of directors looked at a capi-
tal venture to see how we could conserue
money and yet get the most out of the dol-
lars that we received through an endow-
ment and a capital fund-raising campaign,
she said. That helped us make the move to
Please see Growing page 19

2. Growing from page 16
the, eipanded complexi'in,,. a
ntall, she $aid.,',,i,',,
"The next big step is to
get 600-plus members, add
a swimming pool to the
facility and then knock out
the walls for more room
and expand so that we can
serve the community
more," she said. "'We want
to give everyone rnore to
do, especially the teens to
keep them out of trouble.
"When we moved, every-
bod$ thoug,ht we **i*
l;urning our,,bae m on the
community but just the
contrary. Because we can
serve all , the c,ommunity
and we're larger and can
offer more serviees at
Eastgate MalI than at Park
Avenue ... We're here for
bhe business and we are
Lrere for the community as
vell-it helps our preschool
lnd it helps our member-
rhip also to be where we
rre.,Eastgate is ,a fine loca-
tion because we are on one
of the' main tfansportation
routes for CARTA. ft's bet-
ter foi our member.s, :and
everyone, who needs trans'
portation and we provide
transportation for mem-
bers through our van ser-
viCe,'at, 'the J. A. Henry,
YMCA," she said.
"People come here to
work out at 5:30 a-m. when
w€, open up', ,for business.
People come in and work
out, ,then ShoWer, d walk
to work. It's a pleasant
atmosphere for everyorle.
We won't be like the
Hamilton Place YMCA, but
we're not trying to be like
them. We provide for our
members everything they
want and need and people
have thanked ,us fof ,th'4t,"
She'rri said. ,', i .,
The fucility has,attfacted
the very folk who would
have used the, facil,ity,'l,Bt
Park Avenue but never
j,oi,ned" Therer ar,e scholar-
ships awarded to students
who are in the preschool
program and this sort of
offsets the costs of the
preschool for them, she
said. Some of the
preschoolers were brought
to the facility as members
because they were already
members.
-
She'rri' , said that in ffie
next five years you will see
the J. A. Henry YMCA
expanding and offering
more programs and ser-
vices for youth and adults,
because they have the
means to be the heart of
the community. They can
asSistr ,,t-hr.bugh ,,the physi_
cians, w o have put threir
patients on various pro-
grams for healthier
lifestyles ,, ,hecause the,y
have ,the, trai'ned person-
nel to do that.
"We don't want to iust
give the members the
mae,hines and, equipment,
but to manage them
through the programs in a
Christian atmosphere and
the community family can
t
grow healthier in spirit,
mind Bhd, body;"'she said,
She'rri's experienc e
comes from the li years of
development and manage-
rnent 'f- 'ning she
acguired, Wofking as a
manag:r at AT&T and. as a
supervisor: o*er'three
offices with the Hamilton
County government devel-
oping a facility and
staffing it, which is pretty
much like what she is
do.ing rat the YIWCA in
development and manage-
ment, she said.
Working with children
and families is what she
does and the YMCA is a
perfect place for here, she
said.