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Norwalk YMCA, Wilton Family Y Merge Into One Entity

NORWALK, Conn. – The Wilton and Norwalk YMCAs have merged into one organization that will serve both towns as well as Redding and Georgetown.

Members of the Norwalk YMCA and Wilton Family YMCA, as well as local elected officials, celebrate the merger of the two organizations into the Riverbrook Regional YMCA.

Members of the Norwalk YMCA and Wilton Family YMCA, as well as local elected officials, celebrate the merger of the two organizations into the Riverbrook Regional YMCA.

Photo Credit: Contributed

The merger was approved Wednesday by the boards of the Wilton Family YMCA and the Norwalk YMCA and announced at an event held at the Norwalk Inn. The new organization will be known as the Riverbrook Regional YMCA and will provide services to 134,000 residents across the area.

The Norwalk YMCA was first opened in 1928 and closed the doors to its West Avenue facility at the end of 2012 due to declining enrollment and the cost of maintaining the property, although it continued to offer afterschool child care programs. In 2013, the Norwalk YMCA signed a two-year agreement with the Wilton Family YMCA in which the Wilton Y provided management services. The old Norwalk YMCA property was bought by Norwalk Hospital.

Under the old management agreement, Wilton Family Y Executive Director Robert McDowell acted as interim CEO of the Norwalk YMCA. After the merger, he will serve as the CEO of the Riverbrook Regional YMCA.

The time was right to merge the two entities, McDowell said, because of the collaborative relationship that had developed over the past two years. This would provide the opportunity to provide more programs to the area, he said.

“By working together we believe our new YMCA entity will be able to offer more diverse, better and highly tailored services to the communities we serve,” McDowell said.

The Norwalk YMCA currently offers school age child care before and after school, as well as Camp Sunrise in the summer. The Wilton Family YMCA offers health and fitness facilities and classes, swimming, sports, gymnastics, dance, arts and humanities, camp and child care.

The new Riverbrook Regional YMCA will seek to enhance its services focusing on youth development, healthy living and social responsibility, as well as create new programs for children, teens, adults and families.

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