Hudson YMCA seeks larger district grant to sustain teen center, cites rising costs and student participation

Cassie Athorpe, community program director at the Hudson YMCA, presented the YMCA’s year-end report for the Saint Croix teen center at the June 16 board meeting and asked the district to consider increasing its longstanding annual grant.

Athorpe said the teen center saw 2,780 visits this year, averaging about 22 students per day during the school year, and added that student volunteer and paid-staff opportunities expanded: seventh- and eighth-graders logged 215 volunteer hours staffing a concession-stand leaders club and the YMCA hired six Saint Croix Central high school students as paid assistants. “We are at a spot of we might have to tell kids no or I have to stop promoting or I have to start cutting, and that’s the last thing that I wanna do to a growing program,” she told the board.

Athorpe said the YMCA has received $35,000 per year from the district since about 2010 but is asking the board to consider raising the grant to $50,000 because higher staffing and program costs have made the existing funding level unsustainable. She cited rising wages—high-school staff in the Twin Cities YMCA start at $16 per hour—and growing demand from Saint Croix students for programs that the district partially subsidizes, including youth government and Model United Nations conferences (Athorpe said district-supported scholarships reduced student attendance costs to about $200 for many participants).

Athorpe also reviewed program details: a leaders-club concession program that rewarded students with points redeemable for small items, monthly “team nights” that drew 50–60 middle-school students, and summer programming that averages 25–40 participants daily. She said the YMCA disbursed roughly $9,000 in scholarships this year to help Saint Croix students attend conferences and that many of the after-school staff and participants come from Saint Croix Central.

Board members and YMCA staff discussed possible options for the grant: increasing the district’s contribution from fund 80, raising the YMCA’s fee, or reconfiguring staff support. The YMCA requested $50,000 to avoid program reductions and to continue expanded supports and scholarship access for Saint Croix students.

Athorpe said she would share a flyer and additional budget detail with the board. The district’s budget planning discussion later in the meeting noted a multi-million-dollar shortfall for 2025–26, which could affect discretionary grants.

This article reports the YMCA’s presentation and funding request; any commitment of funds would require subsequent board action in a future meeting.