Branch Closures Cost Cincinnati YMCA Millions in Grants

The YMCA of Greater Cincinnati has lost $6.1-million from a local development agency over its closing of two facilities, Cincinnati CityBeat and Business Courier report.

The Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority announced at a public forum Tuesday that it was withdrawing grants of $2.8-million and $3.3-million to the charity for two downtown renovation projects.

Lamont Taylor, the housing authority’s president, called the shutdown of the YMCA’s Melrose and Williams branches in the city’s Walnut Hills neighborhood “a slap in the face” to the community. A City Council member proposed cutting off municipal aid to the organization.

Sandra Berlin Walker, president of the Cincinnati YMCA, said the charity could no longer afford to operate all five of its branches in the city’s downtown and that the Melrose and Williams centers had been consistently losing members and money.