YWCA Shirley Leavell Branch

★★★★Dee Law

The facility is really good. I just wish their hours were more user friendly

★Andrew Gemoets

We are the parents of two children who attended the YWCA after school program at Cactus Trails last year, and we ended up pulling them out because of how poorly they were treated. Majority of the days I picked up my kids they’d come to me crying about the way they were treated and spoken too. I’d step in to the gym to sign them out and majority of the kids would be cowering like they all just got screamed at which my children would later confirm was the case. This year they begged to not be in the Y program and would rather walk home. Most recently, my son (who has both a 504 and an IEP) stopped by to say hi to a friend who’s still in the program. Instead of being treated with kindness, he was told by Ms. Alexis: “Get out of the Y, why are you even here. I don’t ever want to see your face here again.” My daughter saw this happen, and what made it worse is that another student stopped by that same day to visit a friend and was not treated the same way. The inconsistency and unnecessary rudeness were shocking. On top of that, throughout our time in the program, my son’s 504 and IEP were never once acknowledged by staff. Anytime we brought up concerns, we were brushed off with “If you have a problem you can tell upper management.” That left us feeling dismissed and unsupported as parents trying to advocate for our child. We want other families to be aware: this program does not treat all children with respect, nor do they make the effort to accommodate kids with learning or behavioral needs. Based on our experience, we cannot recommend the YWCA after school program at Cactus Trails. We’ve reached out to the program last week and have yet to hear back from anyone.

★The Canon

I signed up after speaking with the manager, Mr. Rivas, about looking for a new space for our family and asking about their culture and policies at this specific YWCA. Feeling assured that my family would feel comfortable, safe and included, which is our foremost priority, we decided to sign up. Sad to say that today we attempted to resolve a safety concern regarding one of their lifeguards. We asked for the manager and me and my family were given the run around. That is disappointing given the nature of pool safety and drowning. When we finally spoke to management, they didn’t reassure us that the safety concern would be resolved and rather dismissed the issue as a whole. The facilities are remodeled and are very nice but the lack of leadership, customer service culture and professionalism towards customers go a long way towards ensuring my business and continued patronage of this establishment.

★Nydia Reveles

It was our first time there today for my 6yo’s private swim lesson. The facilities seem clean (and should be). However, I am extremely alarmed by the lifeguard’s careless and irresponsible behavior. She was on her phone the whole time which she had under the rescue buoy on her lap. After a while, I brought it up to her attention and she agreed to put it away, only to put her earbuds on instead and continue chewing her gum and drinking her coffee. I approached the front desk to inquire about their cellphone/earbud policy for lifeguards, but the front desk attendant (Jackie) said she didn’t know and suggested that I speak to their manager, Mr. Rivas, who had momentarily stepped out. I was finally able to catch Mr. Rivas on our way out after class. I cannot say that I am confident that my concerns were taken seriously. At this point, I do not feel safe bringing my children to this pool given the dismissiveness from staff and management. I am highly regretting enrolling as a member. I hope that this negligent behavior is addressed and corrected immediately.

★Isabel Mora

This pool is severely mismanaged. I recommend to all the paying members to try Hawkins pool instead. The water at Hawkins is pristine and the staff are courteous, and professionally trained to manage this important community resource. Conversely, the staff at the YWCA are not trained to communicate or behave in a manner that corresponds with the mission of the YWCA. The pool policies are not aligned with the standards of a non-profit. In fact, the swim lesson coaches and the aquatics class instructors are allowed to take over you lap swim lane, even when you are swimming in it, to accommodate their late arrivals. The group lessons are considered priority as they bring in money over the standard membership fee. The life guards will force you out of the pool 15 to 20 minutes before closing, so that they can clean up and close up, essentially disregarding the pool time granted to the patrons by the published schedule. During the summer, so many people use the pool, and the pool management is so interested in profit that pool cleaning is secondary to maximizing profit . The water becomes putrid, cloudy and smelly - no one cares. When you try to have these issues addressed by the director of aquatics, she will ignore you until she is compelled to address you. Once you do get to issue your concerns to her, she offers zero resolution and everything continues as before. In my case she banned me from my membership after I complained too many times, even though I am a single mother who had been a member along with my two daughters for more than ten years. The whole affair is diametrically opposed to the "Empowering women" mission. The aquatics director does not deserve to represent this organization.