Y wins Enhance Iowa grant

WASHINGTON — The YMCA of Washington County’s Indoor Aquatic Center was awarded an investment of $500,000 by the Enhance Iowa CAT grant board on Thursday, May 4. This represents 6% of the total project cost and brings the funding gap within $800,000 of being complete.

“These grant opportunities are always very competitive because of all of the incredible projects that are going on all over that state; so we are truly grateful for this investment from IEDA,” Said Amy Schulte, CEO of the YMCA of Washington County.

Representatives from the Washington County Y attend the April 6 board meeting to make their initial request to Enhance Iowa. At that time, the final bids on the project had not been received and there was a significant fundraising gap.

“The Enhance Iowa board directed us to get our final project costs secured through the bid process and to close our gap,” said Schulte. “We were able to do both of these goals with the support of the community and a lot of hard work by our volunteers.”

The YMCA of Washington County was able to raise $520,000 in private donations since the April 6 meeting and the bid process closed coming in at $270,000 less than originally estimated. “This outpouring of support from our donors made all the difference in our successful request to the Enhance Iowa board, who was very complimentary of the Washington community’s engagement in this project.” said Schulte.

“We will have 90 days to finish raising the remaining $800,000 for the pool project and we are confident that we will be able to accomplish this goal as well,” Schulte said.

The project is set to break ground in early July with a projected completion date of September of 2024.