Big changes for a bright future in Wilson

Even before the Foundation YMCA of Wilson was fully complete, Y-GIG programs, educational and community-based opportunities for middle school students, began to operate. Kathie Davis, CEO of the Foundation Y, noted that it was important to coincide the kick-off with the start of school so that parents could coordinate their plans.

The Y-GIG program, Youth Gather, Interact and Grow, is a signature program aimed to introduce students to the world of opportunities in their own backyard. The ‘hub and spoke' model of the Wilson program picks students up from area middle schools and brings them to the Y for a snack, homework help and an enrichment class either at the Y, or in the community. Enrichment classes cross a wide variety of interests including health and wellness, STEM and the arts.

While the reason to start these programs in line with the school calendar was practical in nature, there was an unexpected beauty in beginning prior to the space being totally complete.

“In retrospect, it’s really been a blessing because the students have been able to see their space evolve, so it’s been exciting for them,” said Davis.

That evolution included students weighing in on furniture and supplies and, perhaps most important, it included the art that adorns the wall of the Y-GIG area. Photographs of Whirligig park and downtown Wilson, seen through the eyes and lens of students enrolled in a photography course, are framed and hung with pride. So, not only did the students get to see their space evolve, they participated in building a community for themselves.

The community program flourishing in the midst of being constructed is a microcosm for the larger area around it, the Pine Nash Street development project. The Foundation Y is among the first completed buildings in this exciting venture that is sure to bring continued growth and prosperity to Wilson.

(Then) BB&T was founded in Wilson over 150 years ago and, to honor that history, the banking giant committed to a major investment and new administrative building across the street from the old tower. Now Truist, after a merger with SunTrust, the bank’s commitment was the catalyst for the downtown development.

“When Truist made such a bold commitment to build a new facility in downtown Wilson, we realized we needed to be strategic, using that investment to build momentum and leverage additional investment,” said Grant Goings, Wilson City Manager. “We believe the impact of this block will be tremendous, a community-changing development of a scale unseen by cities of Wilson’s size.”

Part of the plans for the development site included a donation of a portion of the former BB&T Towers site to the Healthcare Foundation of Wilson with the expectation of creating an after school network for middle school youth and for the creation of the Wilson Family YMCA.

Now, with the Y and Truist as anchors, the residents and businesses of Wilson, just like the youth in Y-GIG are a part of their community growing and flourishing around them.

The project brings over $100 million dollars in investment to downtown Wilson and creates opportunities that are new for Wilson.

“Downtown residents are a key to our future viability,” said Goings. “This project will deliver a product that does not currently exist in Wilson and is rarely seen outside of metropolitan areas. People that have never considered living in our downtown will be attracted to this offering.”

Also included in the current construction is a parking deck which will be a first for the city.

“Dreams really do come true,” said Davis who has worked for the Y for nearly 18 years and has dreamed of the day that a Wilson YMCA could create a strong impact. In addition to cutting-edge youth programming, the Foundation Y also has two swimming pools, a gymnasium, exercise studios, a walking track, state-of-the-art exercise equipment and an incredible array of family programs and offerings from swimming lessons to tutoring.

For Davis and city leaders, while exciting things are happening now, the vision has always been about what these investments, in people and infrastructure, could mean for the future. Davis added, “If we can provide good relationships and opportunities with these students, it’s our hope that some of them will come back to be leaders for our growing community.”