SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey friends, welcome back to WePlural. My guest today spent her formative years working in the restaurant industry, having never set foot into a YMCA. One was built here in Brown County, and Kim has never left, and she's kept the doors open through a myriad of challenges over the last 20 years. But the thing Kim will tell you about is not about the building, it's about the relationships and the community that she's had the pleasure of seeing formed inside the walls and outside the walls. So without further delay, let's meet Kim Robinson. Welcome back, friends, to We Plural Podcast, Community on Purpose, and I am so excited to have you join us today. And I'm coming to you from the beautiful Brown County Visitor Center in the media room. And once again, I'm so grateful to be able to have this space to interview so many amazing, incredible guests. And today is no exception. I am uh just so honored to have Kim Robinson, my friend, my colleague, my pickleball partner, and among other things with us today. And Kim is the executive director of our YMCA, which is an incredible amenity that we have here in Brown County. And she came to the YMCA with a restaurant background and four to five generations of family uh in this county. So there's some nobody more deeply rooted than Kim Robinson today. So welcome to WePlural. Thank you. Thank you for having me today. Oh my goodness, it's my honor and my privilege. Tell us a little bit about your background and how you kind of walked into the why that one fateful day.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Well, I like I um you said I was in the restaurant all my life, you know, high school on up with my um Noble Wilma's Pizza, the Hobnob here. I worked for the Hobnob when it was Hobnob in Columbus, Hobnob East, Betsy and Warren. So I I knew have known them since I was 13 years old. They were he was a server at the restaurant that my dad managed. So long background, yeah. And um then when I we moved out here in 1994, and my son was six months old and ended up right in the location where my grandfather was born. My great-grandparents from four to five generations back are buried here, were raised here. So it's really kind of cool that I'm surrounded by your family, your ancestors. Yeah, yeah. My mom's side and Stonehead actually is part of our family. We one of my family members was you know the instrument in building the Stonehead, the two houses for two sisters that live there.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

That is really incredible. And if you haven't seen Stonehead and you come to Brown County, it's worth taking it in. It's got so much history, yeah, and uh it's really kind of a special place. Well, before we talk um specifically about the why, uh-huh. Um, I'd like to know just where you get your motivation. Because Kim, you don't only do things at the why, and we're gonna talk about all the things you do, but you serve Rotary, you serve uh uh the CVC, the CVB, you've done it all. You serve Mother's Cupboard, which is our food pantry uh here for uh food um insecurities. And so you do so many things. Where did that uh come from?

SPEAKER_00 3:34

What who motivated you or inspired you? My mom, she was involved. She was my Girl Scout leader, my daughter's Girl Scout leader. She was in an education at IUPUC in Columbus, and she was always involved. She was a tour guide for the um in Columbus for the area, the arts, the architectural tour. She rewrote the script on the buses and did the uh Miller House tour. So she was always involved, and I just think I get that passion for giving back from from my mom.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Yeah. I do believe it comes from somewhere for those of us who like to be involved in community and like to serve exactly.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

And stay busy. I I don't I like to have, I mean, I can joggle several plates. Yes, you can, and yes, you do. Probably too many. I can't say no. That's part of my problem.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

My girlfriends are working on that with me as well. To say no. To say no. They're like when we're together, practice saying no. But I'm with you. I like to stay busy, and what else would I do, right?

unknown 4:33

Right.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

And so tell us about the day you stepped into the brand new YMCA.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

Well, the first time I was there, it was just, you know, it was under construction, so there were the construction workers? Well, no, not the workers, but there were no walls yet. So it was just the studs, metal studs everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

So they were framing. They were framing it.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

Yes. Yes. So yeah, I mean, I had worked for the Y. I started working in 1999 when we had an office in the professional building, an Andy's building. So we I took my kids, we ran all the after-school care in the four when there were four elementary schools. So we would go from three to six every day and take care of after school care. And then um taught swimming lessons at the state park, taught aquatics at the hotel, Hotel Nashville in the Brown County Inn, and yoga in the church basement. And that was all VOY. Right. So because we were just a storefront. And then so that was in 1919 in August, and then in January of 2001 is when we opened the doors. Wow. Yeah. So I've been there for quite a while.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

So you have seen so many uh changes and so much building.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

And you're and you're still thinking of new ways to use the Y.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

Yeah. When we when I we first opened, there were six full-time people. All the offices were full, and now it's me, myself, and I as a full-time person. So we've seen I've seen a lot.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

You've seen a lot. And you know, I learned to swim at our YMCA in Anderson. I took swimming lessons with my sister, and my maiden name is Dots. And so he, the swim teacher, would call my sister Big Dot and me Little Dot. And I'll never forget that. We just laugh. That's just one of those things that has stuck with me as I was learning to swim. And so I'm really thankful for the Y because you know, that's where I learned. I took dance from Miss Angela. And you know, so um, and most people know the YMCA for swimming and working out, but it's so much more than that, isn't it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

We're more than a swimming gym. We're, you know, a community hub. I mean, the the relationships that have formed there from the uh pickleball group. I mean, they get together after hours and the men's core. I mean, they've traveled out west. So it's all the little communities and relationships that have stemmed from the why, that people would never have crossed paths without the why. Right. And become friends and form relationships and been each other's support mechanism for life, you know, for deaths and whatever.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

So I really love that. And I've been introduced to a whole new group of people that I haven't met uh via pickleball. And we're 15,000 person county, we're 1,500 in the town, and you know, I thought I knew a lot of people until I just met a whole bunch of new people. So I love that that's been a platform, you know, for me to meet yet more people in the county. So when did you have an inkling that the why was gonna be more uh than just activity?

SPEAKER_00 7:46

Well, I mean, it was, you know, our first 10 years. So I've been the CEO since 2005. We had our original director who got the place built, and they hired another gal, and she didn't last very long, so I became the CEO in 05 when my husband retired, so he was able to stay home with uh be home with the kids. And you know, I wasn't sure what I was getting into, but um, yeah, we made it through 2008, and I remember when the cash flow was not the biggest, and we made it through. But um just as my outreach in the community and networking and just getting to know folks and through leadership, Brown County. I met a lot of people. I was on that board for a long time, and just all the relationships that were formed really helped. And then in 2008, when the flood hit, that's kind of when we like, okay, the why is here for the community. We stepped up, we were a shelter for three days. The outpouring of support from the community was absolutely amazing.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

So that's when we actually uh kind of purchased our first cabin down here uh before we became full-time residents. Remind me what happened in 2008 besides the recession. Uh what flood?

SPEAKER_00 9:01

So the uh flooding in like the Princess Lake area, so the um Wabash apartments, now they're um in by the shell station where the fire department is. Those were apartments and they flooded. I mean, it was just underwater and Aqua Isle up in sweet, not sweetwater, but in the um Lake Lemon area. Yes. So they were and I was in Louisville. My daughter played AAU basketball. So I was in Louisville at a basketball game, my son was home alone. We're trying to get back, Columbus is underwater, it was a nightmare. By the time I got to the Y at midnight on a Saturday night, it was like a buzzing little community. There was tables out with blankets, towels, sheets, people everywhere. We had a hundred people sleeping in the gym. The Red Cross came and took over because they were getting all the people out of the apartments.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

I did not have that knowledge of that happening. And wow, so you realized the value of being centrally located where you could um you know take care of our community. Yeah, I love that. And Kim, you've been doing that ever since that uh time.

SPEAKER_00 10:17

That kind of and that's where Mary Kilgore in God's grace was born.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

She and her outreach. Yeah. Yeah. What else came uh from that?

SPEAKER_00 10:26

Do you do you have any other just the the sense of of helping and serving the community? I mean, that kind of really sealed the deal for me.

SPEAKER_01 10:33

So that's when things kind of changed in 2008. That is an incredible story. Yeah. Tell me about because in the show notes, and as you guys remember, I send out a questionnaire to our guests beforehand so I can learn a little bit more about them uh really regarding things I would have never learned had I not asked you those questions. But I love the Bill and Betty story. Can you tell us about Bill and Betty's?

SPEAKER_00 11:00

I mean, you just want to put them in your back pockets there. We have a oompa loompa closet under the steps going upstairs, and she could literally walk through the door and not have to duck. She was she was you know four feet eleven. Anyway, they lived up on Town Hill Road, they were there every day, and she wore this distinctive perfume. I don't know what it was, but you could the whole building would smell. You knew when Betty was there, and she would sit in the lobby while Bill would go upstairs. And we all kind of adopted them as our grandparents. They came to my kids' basketball games, and you know, we visited them, and so it's like for a couple days, like I haven't smelled Betty. I mean, where is she? Where you know, what's going on? And so we called, they didn't answer, and finally we went up there and he had fallen, and he swears that a ghost he had a bucket of water from a dehumidifier, and he swears that he saw some eyeballs and a ghost threw him from one hand-hewn beam to the other, and he kind of straddled it and broke his hip and didn't drop a drop of water. I mean, he's like, There water was no water that came out of the bucket. A ghost threw me. I s he saw it. We're like, okay, Bill. So he when we when we found them, they were she had been sleeping on the floor at his feet, taking had walked down to CVS to get him medicine, and they would not call anybody and so and they weren't driving at that time. No, because she she she couldn't drive. And so they were had been married like 70 years, and it's quite the story. And so another member of the Y Judy, we took him food and they didn't want to call anybody. And then he finally got to went to the bathroom and he fell again. And so they he finally said, Okay, I'll go to the hospital. But it took all of us rallying around them to get the care that he needed. It was just crazy. And they didn't have family and their daughter lived in Arizona or something, and they were kind of estranged, so we were their adoptive family, and yeah. And then he he uh he survived and she was ill, and then she he had a heart attack and is dropped dead at the front door coming to the Y. And she he passed away at the Y. No, uh uh coming out their front door. Oh coming out their front door, and she had never written a check, she had never paid a bill, she had no idea where things were, so we had to kind of help navigate that with her.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Yeah, that's uh very telling of couples in that day and age, you know, have lived through depression, World War II, and my grandmother never drove. Yeah, the first driving lesson she had, she she took out the back of the garage and handed my grandfather the keys and said, That's it, I'm never driving again. So I even as a teenager, I would take her to her hair appointments and she'd have her hair done once a week. And yeah, so um, that is so exemplary of the people that live here. What do you think adds to the uniqueness of Brown County? Um, because we just don't everybody, every town has a story, every county has stories, but there's just something unique about Brown County. What is can you put your finger on it?

SPEAKER_00 14:18

It's a small town feel. I mean, we're a village, right? I mean, we're everyone looks out for each other. And I think it's just it's just amazing how people do look out for each other and have a you know, we're a community and we're gonna we're gonna take care of each other.

SPEAKER_01 14:33

Yeah. So even when I hear the grumbling on some of our social media, when something monumental happens, a fire, uh, you know, a tragedy, I really see the county pulling together and and all that garbage that's it goes away. It goes away. And I wish we could focus on those commonalities and not the differences every day. But yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

But that's if there's ever a disaster, I mean, which we know there will be, like in the tornadoes. This is where I want to be. I want to be in Bryant High because we're gonna take care of ourselves, we're gonna rally. Yeah. And just through COVID, I mean, I learned a whole lot getting through the shutdown.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

That was tell us how you kept the walk going through COVID because you needed a wee circle for that, right? And tell me how that went down.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

We knew the shutdown was coming. Like, it was on a Monday, Tuesday. Well, if it's Tuesday or Wednesday, you know, the world shut down. And I worked 12-hour days the entire time we were shut down. I was I had my office at the front desk. Um, we turned, we activated the co-ed, which is the community organizations active in disaster, and we just rallied.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

Did you put that co-ed community together?

SPEAKER_00 15:51

Who who was a state? It's a state thing, but so every county is like Wonder Twins activate. We activated it with the EMA. Gotcha. And it was a group effort, but we just it addressed any need that came up. And uh, the how we got into the food business was um we got a phone call that uh there was food going to waste. They needed someone to come and get it. I called Clint, my friends up at Hard Truth. I said, Clint, you have a refrigerated truck? I've got food that if we can get to it, it's ours. And that was how our first pop-up pantry happened. It's just a random thing. And you know, we ended up the community ended up buying a um 24-foot box refrigerator truck out of it to keep the food going. We went all over the county with food during the entire shutdown.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

So the foundation uh CEO was telling me about all the the pop-up food places we have, and I didn't realize that that had been going on at the Y for as long as it had.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

Yeah, we would buy uh load up the truck and go to Sprunica, we went to the Unity Baptist Church, Van Buren, all we and Helmsburg, we kind of kept it moving to touch different uh sections of the county. We got our systems down, so we would put a sticker on the um like a post-it note on the windshield of the car. There's three, they need three, a family of three. This is what they get. So we had like Chick-fil-A had nothing on us. Oh my gosh. Why? So a triad was involved, the churches, uh, just local volunteers, St. Vincent de Paul. It was quite an operation.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

So I have shared this with a couple other interviews, but we have over a hundred not-for-profits in this county. And to hear about how you all collaborated and pulled together or a handful of you, is really how it should work. Yeah. I mean, that's that's really incredible. And I know you served some great needs during the pandemic. And then how long did it take for you to kind of get back to business as normal once you know we got through the initial?

SPEAKER_00 18:06

I mean, it didn't, it was pretty quick. People were ready to get out. You know, we had our social distance spaces at the Y and the mask, and you, you know, you had to do all the PPE stuff, but we used to and then the Y as an uh state alliance, you know, we met weekly on what was to, you know, get update on what was going on, what the best practices were for our Y's. And when we reopened, um, we were all ready for it and to set a roll with it.

SPEAKER_01 18:34

Part of that seems like such a distant memory, and part of it seems like it was yesterday and it could be real real again. It could, yeah. Um, how do you can because you know, basically with all the not-for-profits and all the work that you do and work that I've been able to be involved with, we have needs in this community. So, how do you make the Y accessible to all peoples?

SPEAKER_00 18:58

Well, we don't turn anyone away for the inability to pay. So, all of our fundraising, like all the profits from the Hilly Half, go to our financial assistance. So we offer um assistance to anyone who needs it financially to give them a discount on their memberships.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

Um, and then we have Brown County Access. The the tell tell our listeners about that and how important that is. So access Brown County.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Sorry, I said that backwards. That's okay. Is uh uh only public transportation in the county. We have four vehicles, and we take folks, you have to be a Brown County resident, you know, your pickup point has to be in Brown County, and then we will take um people into Columbus and Bloomington to the doctor to work, grocery store, the bank, whatever they need to do. And it's a 24-hour notice, and we're just here to get people to where they need to go.

SPEAKER_01 19:53

And you say that in a way that seems like it's you know, it's nothing. But let me tell you, uh, transportation is such a barrier for so many people. And having worked in for five years with the film and people in recovery and coming out of uh you know, incarceration and have to get to court appointments or have to check in with parole. If you don't have a car, that's hard to do. Yes. And you miss parole meeting or you miss a court appointment, and you're right back, you know, in that cycle that is so hard to break. And you accumulate fees that you can't pay. You can't pay, you're in a VS circle. So, you know, and so the fees grow and and it can be so discouraging for folks. So, Kim, I would say access Brown County or it's so critical, and it and it's something that we shouldn't take for granted. And do does anybody pay anyone can ride?

SPEAKER_00 20:50

It's if you're six-year over or your spouse is six-year over, you can ride for free. Okay, you're right, you know, or donations are accepted, of course. And then with five dollars one way in the county and seven fifty one way out of county, which is still so reasonable. Yeah, and we sell tickets. So if people, I know the um recovery community has purchased tickets to have available for folks that are getting out of jail or need to get to and need to get to those kinds of appointments.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

Uh such a barrier for so many people. Yeah. Um, so thank you for for starting that.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

And well, that kind of that was started in an 09, and then we took over in 2014. So I've been running that. 12 years. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:35

And I know you just got a a a grant last year from Fab 50.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

And well, uh that's our second time, but yeah, we got it. So I was really nervous about taking over running the Access Brown County in twenty fourteen. And then the first year of Fab fifty, we got this Fab fifty money. So that just kind of gave me the boost I needed that, you know, we I can do it. There's confidence in from the public and Yes. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:01

Yes. And I think you've built that reputation and confidence for that service and people are recognizing the value of it. Um and for other communities, the Fab 50 is a group of women that pay a fee. Uh we all pay it yearly, and those monies are pooled together. Uh, and then the members of Fab 50 can put the charity of their choice in a hat, and it's drawn, we draw three. Three of them. And then those three organizations make a two two-minute presentation on why they should be awarded our Fab 50 Women Vote and men now. We have fabulous 50 women and magnanimous men. And um, they all vote, and the the top award is 10,000, sometimes $11,000. And then second is what $7,500?

SPEAKER_00 22:55

Yeah, we're trying to get that to 100. We have like 96 members. So if we can get to the 100 mark at $200, that's a lot of money.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

But I love this, and every community, no matter your size, could do this, you guys. And and because pooling your monies together, you can have greater impact. Yeah, and so that's incredible. Um, Kim, is there anything that you think um it would be helpful for listeners to know that I haven't asked you about anything that you do at the Y that uh you would want folks to know about in this community and visitors? We have so many visitors who come visitors and use the Y.

SPEAKER_00 23:38

So we are you know part of nationwide. So if you have a member of another Y, you can visit the reciprocity. Yeah, so you can visit our Y, and we also have guest feasts, so you know, stop down and check us out. But no, I mean I'm I'm proud of our whole IU Health relationship and with um our original donor and what we've done with that.

SPEAKER_01 23:57

So yeah, he's played a significant role in advancing the ball. Because you you shared that your first board members didn't even think you would last 10 years.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

We would make it. I had our 10-year anniversary board meeting, invited all that I could find, and they're like, We were surprised that you made it this long. I was like, oh, mercy. They didn't know Kim Robinson very well because I'm not surprised. And we're one of the smallest towns to have a full service Y. I mean, we were what, 900 people at the time?

SPEAKER_01 24:30

Right, at the time that the Y opened and 1,500 now in town and 15,000 in the county. Yeah. So, all right, so I do ask my guest every time uh for a we plural promise. Now, a we plural promise is a call to action, if you will. So if you were, if a stakeholder in a community is listening today and says, I'm just one person, what could I do? What would your encouragement to uh others be through the we plural promise?

SPEAKER_00 25:04

Get involved, volunteer. I mean, this county is run by volunteers. Our age needs to step up. Young people. Young people need to step up. If you go to any board meeting and see the volunteers, uh Yeah, they're they're up there. My most of my drivers are in their 70s and you know, so the 60-year-olds we need to step up and volunteer and be here for the community.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

But you know, I started volunteering very early. And I think the more the earlier you can start. So I started as a candy striper at St. John's Hospital. But the earlier you can start, you you know sooner of of the value of volunteering and the power that it has to really move the needle forward for many issues for communities. So uh I love that. So there's always a place to plug in, is what you're saying. There's always a place, yeah. And if you can't find it, call Kim at the YMCA in Brown County, and she can tell you exactly where to plug in uh in your community and here. And I just can't thank you enough. And uh today's uh broadcast was brought to you by Pickle on Pen. They are building community one match at a time in Carmel, Indiana, and we'll be hearing from those owners a little bit later in the series. But thank you so much, Kim. Well, you're welcome. Thank you. It's been fun. Well, that's We Plural Podcast Today. Find us at weplural.com. You can go to Facebook, Instagram, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. WePlural will be there, and I hope you are as inspired as I was today. Until next time.