Scott Krouse - Executive Director of the Freeport YMCA

From early childhood to the present day, the Y has been an integral part of Scott's life. Raised in Boothbay Harbor by parents who are from Pennsylvania (his dad from Allentown & his mother from western PA), Scott feels there is no better place to live than in Maine.

He feels very lucky to be working as Executive Director at the Freeport Y which is one of three facilities that comprise the Cumberland County YMCA. An avid basketball and baseball player in high school, Scott picked up golf and tennis when he went to college. He felt golf and tennis would be activities he could enjoy for a lifetime; he also became a tennis coach during college. Scott graduated from Boothbay High school and moved on to further his studies at Springfield College in Massachusetts where he majored in Sports Management. Scott then went on to pursue a Masters degree in Education from Springfield College. As part of his graduate work Scott completed an internship with the Boston Celtics working in their front office.

Mike Harrison, a former Executive Director at the Boothbay Harbor Y, proved to be very helpful in Scott's emerging career. For starters, Mike employed Scott at the Boothbay Y during college allowing him to work in many departments experiencing the true diversity the Y offers. As he emerged into the world of work, Scott started out at the Portland Y where he was a sports and recreation director. He eventually became Executive Director of the Portland Y.

Scott handles multi-tasking very comfortably or so it seemed to me when I saw him handling situations that arose and needed his immediate attention. As I waited to interview him, Scott lead a tour of board members through the new construction site that will give the Freeport Y very needed space to expand. Susan, one of his employees, was informing Scott about a critical repair needed in the women's shower area. As Scott and I sat down to talk, he told me he had to prepare for a board meeting later that day.

Scott spoke earnestly about his goal to raise $167,000 for financial Aid to both individuals and to families who can't afford the many wonderful programs that the Y offers. I learned that noone is turned away from the Y due to inability to pay. The Y provides financial assistance in many different ways such as: childcare, summer day camp, membership, adaptive services, swim team, etc. The need for financial assistance continues to rise. For example, this year alone there are 110 members on the Stripers swim team; over $5,000 has already been provided in financial support for children to swim on the team.

The next time you visit the Y ask for a copy of their Long Range Strategic Goals. I had no idea that the Casco Bay Freeport Y serves 600 indivduals every day! How do all of these activities happen and who are these faithful workers? Scott says that a Y is as strong as the community that supports it. The Freeport Y wouldn't be what it is today without the dedicated support of all their volunteers. In fact there is a goal to double the number of volunteers this year. Another major goal this year is to address the high incidence of obesity, chronic disease, and other healthcare crises among our community. For web information, click http://www.cumberlandcountyymca.org/ To suport the financial aid program, call 865-9600.