Swampscott Woman Discovers YMCA Network

Rachael Gourley didn’t realize how much her life would change when she started working at the in March.

Gourley, who has been raising daughter Aalana on her own since she was born two and a half years ago, started working in the YMCA Gymnastics Center because of her love for gymnastics, cheering and tumbling.

What she didn’t immediately realize was the network and community she had entered into.

“Every single aspect of my life has changed since I started working at the Y,” says Gourley. “The YMCA is like an extended family, I have made friends here that I know I’ll have for life.”

When Gourley started working at the Y, her daughter came along every day and started going to the Kid’s Club. The pair had never been separated previously, but Aalana quickly became very social in the care of the Y staff, and she has become a much more confident and self-assured toddler.

“We have both become so much healthier and happier in the Y atmosphere in both mind and body,” says Gourley. “We spend more time being active. Aalana spends time in the gymnastics center and she’ll learn to swim here too, and I’ve tried a bunch of classes and have started working out upstairs with friends I’ve made working here."

The Y has changed the daily routine for both, getting up early and eating a healthy breakfast, and then coming into the Y for work and the Kid’s Club or activities.

“It was so hard for me to leave her at first,” says Gourley. “I would cry when I had to drop her off in the morning. But now I see how much we have both had the opportunity to grow through being here — my daughter is learning new things, becoming more independent and outgoing, and socializing with other children, and I have developed a network of people who care about us and are there and ready to help if I ever need it. I’ve made friends and I’ve become more social and outgoing as well.”

Gourley, from Swampscott, cheered all through high school and loved tumbling, which is how she became interested being a gymnastics instructor at the Y.

“Everyone here is dedicated to something,” says Gourley. “Whether it’s running a faster mile, or swimming a faster lap, or perfecting a gymnastics routine, or losing weight and being healthier, everyone is committed to doing something and reaching a goal. Keeping my daughter in that kind of environment will keep her on the right path in life.”

To learn more about the YMCA, visit www.northshoreymca.org.