My Y Story – Amy
They say it takes a village to raise a child, and for Amy Jarvis, the YMCA is part of her village. The mother of two spends her days caring for 2 year-old Elizabeth and 4 year-old Ezekiel, all while her husband Joshua is serving in the Navy defending our country. Petty Officer First Class Joshua Jarvis is stationed at Port Hueneme just outside Ventura, CA, some 1,200 miles from Spokane. The distance makes it difficult for the family to be together often, and the deployments make matters even worse. Amy is not alone though, her family assists with taking care of the two kids when things get busy, and the YMCA is here for her when she needs a break. She says being able to put Elizabeth and Ezekiel in child watch can be a life saver “it gives me my sanity, being able to get some time to myself, being able to run off the stresses of doing everything on my own.”
Through the Y’s Military Outreach Initiative, Amy was able to get a membership for free while her husband was deployed, making a stressful and emotional time a little less burdensome. When Joshua returned from his deployment, Amy enjoyed the YMCA so much she decided to pay for her full membership. She points to swim lessons and tumblebug classes for her children as one of the best things their family has enjoyed. “Ezekiel misses out on some of that sort of stuff with Joshua being deployed so much, so it’s fun to see him do some of those things that I’m not naturally inclined to.” The YMCA is proud to support the Jarvis family and other military families throughout the Inland Northwest.