Positioning the YMCA of Greater New York to meet new community needs

What was the challenge?

“We started 2020 as a $200 million revenue organization and ended as a $100 million revenue organization, with the same infrastructure and debt load in place. A few months into the pandemic, we realized that neither our revenue model nor our service delivery model was working to support New Yorkers. The city was in lockdown and access to our facilities was extremely limited. To survive, we had to look at everything differently, reimagine and rethink our approach, and be willing to take chances and try new things.”

Describe the solution delivered by the YMCA of GNY and PwC’s community of solvers.

“PwC helped us analyze consumer sentiment to better understand what people were thinking, feeling, and needing. PwC also helped us view our different program areas as business lines and identify opportunities to expand our reach and our ability to serve and support New Yorkers. We realized that our core experience could be expanded and repositioned, including providing emergency childcare, increasing homeless services, and expanding upon our virtual offerings. PwC was also instrumental in helping us analyze and define options for debt restructuring.”

Where or how did innovation and unexpected ways of thinking come into play?

“Our discussions with the PwC team led us to a clearer understanding that we had the capacity to serve in ways that met our communities’ needs that we hadn’t considered in the past, including vaccination centers and food pantries. PwC’s internal experience and analysis helped us understand the viable pathways forward and allowed us to quickly pivot and execute a successful restructuring strategy.”

How does the solution deliver trust?

“It’s important that New Yorkers and our other stakeholders trust that we have an operating model that can respond to change at any given time. Working with PwC has helped us to embrace a mindset of change and flexibility, which is key to organizational long-term sustainability.”