Lack of insurer causes YMCA to cease mentor program

Michael Lagerquist, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.Free Press

MANKATO — Faith is one of the tenets that guides the Mankato Area YMCA, and its director and board had faith that an insurer would be found to allow them to responsibly continue their 57-year-old Brother/Sister Program.

But the deadline came with no viable options, so on Monday staff worked to contact the program’s mentors and mentees to tell them that, at least for now, the program has been discontinued. YMCA members were alerted later in the day.

“We understand the profound impact this news will have, as for 57 years this program embodies our core belief that every young person deserves a champion — someone to simply listen, support challenges, and encourage dreams,” said the community letter shared Monday.

The reason for the stoppage was a change in regulatory requirements that caused the loss of a specific insurance carrier. Instead of gutting impacted parts of the program and leaving a shell that could need to be cut later, Executive Director Andrew Burk and the board of directors chose to cease the program as of Dec. 1.

“We’ve been working with a number of different carriers when we have been searching for a new insurance company, and through that process we had all the faith in the world that we would find another carrier,” Burk said in an interview.

He credited those conducting the search, saying to them it wasn’t about insurance, but the thousands of people who have participated in and benefited from the program. They continue to search for a viable insurer, or another organization they can partner with to reinstate the Brother/Sister Program, Burk said.

Zach Kolars, board president, works with personal insurance and not commercial or nonprofit insurance, but said several things have happened in the last few years that likely affected not being able to find an insurer to provide a policy to include the program.

Minnesota now ranks among the top states for catastrophic weather events, Kolars said. In addition, legislation in the state allows liability payments to family members, for example. This has led to some companies paying out $1.70 for every $1 taken in, he said.

“So, you don’t need to be a math guy to know it’s not very sustainable to do that,” he said. “A lot of insurance companies are doing different things,” including dropping some types of policies. This could lead to extremely high premiums or even dishonest or underfunded corporations looking to fill a vital niche.

The Brother/Sister Program has several venues to deliver that support to young people, with mentors ranging in age from college students to older adults. Services are divided between school-based mentors, pen pals and group mentoring, with 65 young people on the list waiting for more mentors.

“The people that are affected the most are the kids and the families who are in the program who have had that avenue as a resource that was there for them to enjoy, to be a part of. And it just stinks (to lose it),” Burk said.

The YMCA staff and board will continue to seek “another supportive, caring and safe environment where the mentorship of youth can continue to thrive in the community,” according to the community letter.

They will provide updates as they continue to work to provide support for youth who need it, despite their family’s best efforts.

“Sometimes (kids) need a little bit more, and the mentorship through our program was able to provide that for them,” Burk said.