YMCA - Courier - Plainfield YMCA chief's focus is community

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Published in the Courier News, Thursday, May 11, 2006

Plainfield YMCA chief's focus is community

By BERNICE PAGLIA
Correspondent

PLAINFIELD -- Addy Bonet has a secret she wants to share with all of Central Jersey.

As the new president and chief executive officer of the Plainfield Area YMCA, she wants people to know what goes on inside that big brick building on Watchung Avenue, which thousands pass daily.

Since taking charge in October, Bonet has set goals including attracting more members to the Y's fitness facilities, getting more families and children involved in character-building and health programs for young people and finding more board members to carry on and expand the association's work.

Bonet invites people to stop in and ask for a tour and a guest pass or to visit www.plainfieldy.org for more information.

To improve communication in and out of the building, one of Bonet's first changes was to introduce high-speed Internet access and voice mail, calling them "the tools that we really need to grow."

To help her settle into her new office, Bonet's family pitched in to paint it pale green and white, and to assemble a new computer desk. Its shelves hold small gifts from children and memorabilia from Bonet's 20 years with the YMCA, serving at facilities in New York, Chicago and most recently as vice president of operations at The Community YMCA in Red Bank.

On the wall is a big, low-tech whiteboard that constantly reminds Bonet of the many aspects of her job: maintaining the 80,000-square-foot facility, fundraising, meeting with other community leaders, improving programs and enhancing board functioning.

Although she still lives in Monmouth County, Bonet plans to relocate soon to Plainfield and has spent the last several months getting to know local residents and leaders. She showed off a thank-you note from a school in North Plainfield where she recently read to children.

"That's what you have to do -- you just have to get connected," she said. "I'm trying to really jump in head first."

Bonet's goals, especially on programs for young people, "looks like a positive thing," said Councilman Don Davis, a liaison to the school board and a staunch advocate for youth.

"We need every kind of positive outreach to our youth as possible," he said.

While getting to know the people and communities of Central Jersey and their specific needs, Bonet is stressing the traditional YMCA mission of instilling honesty, responsibility, caring and respect in youth. But she is also addressing some specific new needs such as making the programs accessible to the increasing Hispanic community and combating the problem of youth and adult obesity through the national YMCA's Activate America fitness initiative.

The YMCA will print materials in English and Spanish and will hire more bilingual staff members, she said. Its gym and weight room will be used to help individuals meet personal health goals under the new fitness program.

Besides these programs, the YMCA offers day camp in the summer, after-school programs with students from seven schools and off-site programs at both city middle schools, youth leadership programs, swimming lessons and a program for displaced children in the care of the state Division of Youth and Family services.

Bonet has held executive positions at large operations with budgets as high as $15 million and as many as 300 people on staff but chose the Plainfield Area YMCA with the idea of being in total charge of a smaller urban program, she said. The YMCA has a $2.5 million budget and a staff of about 50. About half its funding comes from federal, state and county sources and the rest from fees for services.

A homeless shelter also is at the Plainfield Area YMCA, serving families displaced by fires or other disasters as well as those with no permanent home. The shelter can accommodate up to 60 people, and its clients are referred to the YMCA by various agencies.

Most programs take place during day and early evening hours with an average daily traffic of about 300 people, but the YMCA is open 24 hours, Bonet said.

"We don't close," she said. "There's always somebody at the front desk."

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Suggested cutlines for photos (which are in the Community Local folder) -- All photos by Bernice Paglia

YMCA_addy010 -- "Addy Bonet goes high-tech .."

YMCA_addy011 -- "and low-tech to keep track of her job as president/CEO of the Plainfield Area YMCA."

YMCA_addy004 -- "Children at the Plainfield Area YMCA are proud of the village they created in an after-school program."

http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060511/NEWS01/605110326/1006

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