Our first letter
On February 10, 2024, a letter was sent to the board members of YWCA.
To Whom It May Concern,
The ad hoc group Save the Laniakea YWCA Health & Wellness Program asks for help from concerned citizens. Please visit the website https://hiborg35.wixsite.com/saveourhealth to learn more.
The Laniakea YWCA recently informed some of its members, by email, that it was discontinuing its Health &Wellness Program. The last day for classes will be March 31, 2024. The pool will remain open through June 30, 2024, at which time “the Health & Wellness program will be officially closed.” This news was shared with other members during well-attended fitness classes. The entire membership did not receive this news because the YWCA does not invest resources in communicating with its members, and many of us are not even on their email list.
The brief email did not state a reason for closure, however CEO Noriko Namiki stated in a television interview that it was a financial decision. She added that there were only 250 fitness members, compared to 1,000 ten years ago. The decision to eliminate all health-focused programming at the Laniakea YWCA was made without any efforts to increase membership or even inform its constituency that there was any problem that needed addressing. The home page of the website directs visitors to use an app to access class information and does not even list the Health & Wellness Program as one of its core programs.
The Laniakea YWCA's Health & Wellness Program has served the physical, mental, and social needs of a multicultural, multi-age community for over a century. A brief internet search on its history documents this. Donations from foundations, businesses and individuals support programming aimed at furthering the mission of the YWCA as " Eliminating racism, empowering women." It is doubtful that donors are going to be made aware that all Health &Wellness programming will be eliminated in 2024.
Laniakea YWCA is a safe space to meet community-minded strangers. How does the termination of the entire Health & Wellness Program benefit the YWCA? It converts space that was already multi-purpose into cash-producing rental space and eliminates the need to engage with the public through in-house programming. How will the non-profit Laniakea YWCA serve the cultural, social, and physical needs of the kupuna, business, and residential community of downtown and the greater Honolulu area by becoming a rental venue?
With aloha,
Bonny Cooke, Janis Fenton, Susan Hogan, Alex Kagawa, Faye Zasada, Laniakea YWCA Health & Wellness Program Members, representing our larger community
Community Meetings
We attended the following community meetings to express our concerns on the closure of the Health and Wellness programs and to solicit the help of our Legislators. Our goal is to get them to talk to the YWCA and ask them to work with us on continuing and enhancing the program to make it sustainable for both the YWCA and its dedicated members and trainers.
January 2024 at Harbor Square - State Representative and Speaker of the House of Representatives Scott K. Saiki
February 6, 2024 at 801 South Street - State Representative and Speaker of the House of Representatives Scott K. Saiki and Councilmember Tyler Dos Santos-Tam
Coming up Next
There will be another community meeting at McKinley High School on February 21, 2024 at 5:30pm in the cafeteria. Three very important legislators are hosting this event, Representatives Scott K. Saiki and Scott Y. Nishimoto, and Senator Sharon Y. Moriwaki. The more they see us, the better.
Getting help from our government officials and legislators at the federal, state, and city levels. We are working on letters to send to our government officials asking them to support us by encouraging the YWCA to work with its members by giving us a chance to help grow and enhance the health and wellness programs. Many of our officials have already providing funding in previous years for various YWCA needs so we do not want to approach them for more money which they do not have.
Survey of our membership. We are in the planning stages of creating a survey of our membership to see if we are willing and able to accept higher membership fees. We understand there are members who participate in the programs via their health insurance providers. Be on the look out for this survey.
Thank you all for your support. Please pass this along to your families, friends, neighbors even if they are not (yet) part of the YWCA.
