COVID-19 took the breath out of the YMCA, but not the life.

Following the shutdown of the state in March 2020, the Kent County YMCA lost more than 80 percent of its membership, forcing it to trim from 85 to nine staff members. Even with the gradual lifting of restrictions, the members didn’t return. Only now, with greater relaxation of restrictions – unvaccinated youths are still required to wear masks – is the Y starting to see a return of members.

“We just cracked 2,000,” Becky Merritt, branch manager, said Monday. Prior to the pandemic the branch had 8,500 with a goal of reaching 10,000 members.

The Kent branch has launched a four dollar for July campaign to get former members to come back. And they won’t turn away new members at the promotional rate, either. Monthly rates range from $49 to $89 for the top family rate.

“There were a lot of barriers to coming back,” says Merritt. Safety topped the list of concerns. During the shutdown, the Y had the opportunity to drain and make repairs to its pool. The pool reopened last June, but restrictions didn’t allow for the reopening of fitness centers. As restrictions were eased, there were distancing requirements that limited the use of equipment. Members had to make appointments. Naturally, masks were required.

Steven O’Donnell, CEO of the Greater Providence YMCA, which oversees six Y branches and Camp Fuller, said the agency used the down time for maintenance and improvements throughout the system. With the shutdown, he said the Y had to do extensive layoffs and furloughs, cutting its staff from 820 to fewer than 200. He said the staff now numbers 320 and would be more if the people were available.

O’Donnell is highly complementary of those who stuck with the Y and how they took on responsibility to ensure operation and the overall reopening of facilities.

“They kept us going while basically we were closed,” he said.

Kent’s decline in membership is not unique. Other branches similarly faced a loss of members.

Merritt said the diehards stuck through it. Yet there were others whose lives were turned upside down. They were out of work or working from home. Their kids were home, too. Dropping the kids off at Kent’s active family center while they worked out at the gym or swam was not an option. The family center was not open, but it will be soon.

Merritt is hopeful of a resurgence of members when the family center reopens.

O’Donnell said membership throughout the system grew by 620 last month.

The Kent Y is running summer camp. The July camp has 175 campers between first and eighth grade. That’s less than pre-pandemic numbers and at this point basically at its maximum. The Kent Y is facing the same difficulty filling summer positions as the city and the Boys and Girls of Warwick as well as restaurants and seasonal businesses. Merritt said the Y staff is up to 22, but still a far cry from what it had been.

She said there are openings for the August camp sessions.

Although it didn’t have the hum of a full lobby with members coming and going, the excited squeals of kids from the activity center or the beat of a guys’ basketball game emanating from the gym, there was youthful energy as the Race 4 Chase Team headed for its next workout. Named in memory of Chase Kowalski, who died in the Sandy Hook mass shooting, the Race 4 Chase is a kids’ triathlon. The Kent Y team will be competing with teams from other six Ys – an estimated 150 competitors – in the event to be held Aug. 15 at Fort Wetherill Park in Jamestown.

O’Donnell said a combination of factors enabled the Y to survive the pandemic. Under an agreement with the Rhode Island Department of Education, the Y leased its vans to bus students to schools since vendors used by municipalities and town-operated systems didn’t have sufficient vehicles to meet separation requirements.

The Y took on a food distribution campaign aimed at reaching families facing food insecurity while benefiting restaurants that were also facing tough times. He said the Y delivered meals and continues to do so.

Fundraising and generosity also played roles in the Y’s survival. O’Donnell said many committed members continued paying monthly even though they didn’t have use of the facilities.

The Y also turned to government grants for assistance. Because it employed more than 500 people, O’Donnell explained it was not eligible under the first round of PPP (Payroll Protection Plan) funding. By the fourth round under the American Rescue Plan, the Y showed it lost $3 million in 2020 and received $2.5 million that will be considered a repayable loan unless it is able to meet certain criteria.

In an effort to get a handle on costs and until the membership increases, O’Donnell has paired branch Ys under a single executive director. He said the Kent and Cranston branches are under the direction of Christy Clausen, who is starting this week.

O’Donnell has not let the pandemic dim his vision for a Providence YMCA in the urban core of the city to serve kids “who have no hope.” He said he is looking for a suitable site and has been working with corporations and individuals who share the dream.

“We think this is the perfect time to put this together,” he said.

He projected the cost of a Providence branch at $25 million.