Boothbay Region YMCA is kicking off its annual fund with 2018 chairs Alan and Anne Barker. One of the first things the Barkers did when they moved to the Boothbay region 19 years ago was find swimming lessons for their children Soren and Kjirsten and pool therapy for their daughter Maren, who has cerebral palsy.

The Barkers said Soren, then 9, wanted nothing to do with being on a swim team. After laid-back lessons in Hawaii with an instructor named Big Frog, a more regimented and military approach in Washington State jaded him.

"He liked playing in the pool, but he didn't really like swimming," said Anne.

Anne promised Soren they would not even bring swimming gear, but they were going to watch because he needed to understand how to swim.

On their way out after a Dolphin Swim Team practice, the Barker family heard music. It was the sound of scales being played by Ginny Bishop, mother of BRYMCA's Arts and Humanities Director Emily Mirabile. Bishop was warming up would be singers for choir auditions. The Barker family made a bee line to the source.

“The Y was really integral in the way we were able to connect with the community as new people, and the Y-Arts was the beginning,” Anne said.

Anne’s mother Betty Jo Davis lived with the Barkers for three years to help with the children so the family could settle into their new home and community. When Davis saw Bishop trying to lead the children and play scales at the same time, she offered to help by playing the piano so Bishop could gather and lead the children. Bishop accepted the offer and Davis played piano for the Y-Arts choir for three years. When Davis moved away, Anne took up her post. Both Kjirsten and Soren Barker sang for the choir through high school until they both went off to college.

"We're known for basketball and swim team and camping and things like that, but really not thought about as arts and humanities,” said Executive Director Andy Hamblett. “Our Y was one of the first ones to really jump in and do that."

The Barkers enroll Maren in an extension of Y-Arts called Arts for All, a program for youth and adults with physical and intellectual disabilities. Though Maren is nonverbal and has difficulties communicating, "She's got a part, man!" said Anne. "She's sitting on the side of the stage and she's like the mermaid or she's the fish or she's the tree … To watch the other-able people be able to take on these roles – and these are like dream roles of a lifetime … These are 30 or 40 year old people that have not been in a show because they're not able to get there."

Maren now lives at the Rocky Coast Group home next door to the Y. All residents of the home enjoy a free lifetime membership to the Y and the Barkers said it has made a large difference to Maren and the others who live there.

Another program the Barkers have been connected to is Livestrong. Davis took advantage of the 12-week program that helps those with cancer reclaim their health through physical training and emotional support. After finishing chemotherapy for leukemia, Davis came back to the region last fall to live with the Barkers for a few months. During that time, she received exactly the help and encouragement she needed from the Y and its staff. The Y's Healthy Living Coordinator Abby Jones would often pick Davis up to make her exercise classes and routines.

"Who does that? Nobody does that,” said Anne. “She was her buddy and she gave her individual training and stretching and support … She motivated her to want to be there.”

Barely able to walk when she arrived in October, Davis was walking, lifting, moving and balancing by year’s end when she left. Hamblett said the best part is no one is ever capped at the one, 12-week program. Those who need it can take it again and again.

The Barkers also praised the Rock Steady Boxing program for patients with Parkinson’s Disease, and the Y’s involvement with New England Parkinson’s Ride. Alan, a physician, said fitness as a tool for recuperating is slowly catching on. "(For example), people who have Parkinson's don't want anybody to know they have Parkinson's. There's like this shame thing."

Alan said his mother was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and told only him until about three years later. That is why these programs are so important, said Alan.

"It's all about identifying your tribe and getting healthy while you're doing it," Anne said.

What's next for the Barkers? Soren and his family are moving back to town and he has an idea for a storytelling festival  Hamblett said the Y is game for sponsoring. As a nurse for the schools, Anne said partnerships with the Y are a great asset to the community. BRYMCA, Boothbay Region High School and St. Andrews Campus meet quarterly to discuss the health and support of the region's school-age population. Anne enjoys continuing that relationship.

"Telling the story like the Barkers are doing is just a way of letting people know that might not know or reminding those that do know what the Y means to the community," said Hamblett. "There's a broad range of people out there that can let us know who needs help, so anybody can sponsor somebody and it doesn't have to be financially. The Y doesn't turn anybody away."

The biggest obstacle is usually people thinking they cannot afford it or that it's not a good fit for them personally, Hamblett said. Through programs and sponsorship, BRYMCA is here for the community as a whole.

"That's what this is about," said Alan.