Welcome all session.

And honorable members of City Council on the quarters with Virginia City-21.

And by authority vested amendment of the city of Virginia Beach.

I hear my call for a special formal session of the Virginia Beach City Council on Tuesday over 28th.

2025 is 3 p.m.

City Council Conference Room 2034, Building 1, City Hall, second floor, 2401 courthouse drive.

The purpose of this formal session is City Council into a closed session.

I think our conclusion of the regular schedule formal uh formal uh session where following matters will be considered.

Um that's personal matters, council of points, council ports, commission appointees, authorities, agencies, task force, and performance of council boards, members, and commission as uh the conclusion of the meeting.

The council will reconvene an open session to um purpose of uh certifying the closed session.

Okay, uh Madam Clark, do we have the roll call?

Yes, I'll present okay.

Okay, uh Patrick are ready to roll.

The first briefing will be will be provided by Laura Baxter, executive director for the Armed Services Lion CA of Hampton Roads.

This briefing was requested by several members of the council.

And she's gonna brief the council on the early childhood education program at Hawaii.

Good afternoon, Council members.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to share the Armed Services YMCA story.

Um today I'd like to highlight how we're going to or how we strengthen our military families through impactful programs with a focus on early childhood learning programs.

And additionally, I'd like to uh I'll be asking for some assistance in helping us expand our service to more military families.

Um our mission is simple.

Uh we were actually started.

There's a little bit of history.

We will we were started in 1861 by the National YMCA, a group of volunteers for them, uh, decided that they wanted to help the wounded, ill, and injured on the battlefield during the civil war.

Word got out about all the wonderful things that they were doing, and the movement grew to the point where the National YMCA created an arm of the YMCA called the Armed Services, YMCA of the USA.

Next slide, please.

And that's what you have today.

So the the red is the national YMCA.

Um of the USA and the Armed Services YMCA headquarters, our headquarters is in Woodbridge, Virginia, and we, the Hampton Roads location, are one of only 12 branches in the entire country.

No, we have we're not affiliated with the regular YMCA.

We have no gym, no fitness equipment.

Um we actually our mission is to for low cost and no cost programs for active duty members with focus on young junior enlisted families, E5 and below, because a lot of times those individuals fall below the radar.

They don't know the resources that they have available.

Um just we also do not receive any funding uh from the dod, the national YMCA, or the local YMCA.

So I just like to put that out because a lot of we I always get a lot of questions on that.

Next slide.

Um there are two ASYMCA locations here in the Hampton Roads right now.

Uh the first one is actually uh managed by our headquarters.

That is uh in partnership with the DOD, and it's a CDC that's specifically focused on taking care of that wait list that is on installation.

They work very closely with them.

Uh it's a totally separate program to what we offer.

Our location, the Armed Services by University of Canton Roads, is located in the Virginia Beach area.

It's right down the road from Gate 5 Little Creek off of Independence Boulevard.

Um we cover numerous programs there, including a pre-K program, um, our before and after care, and a Patriots Pantry.

Those are specific to that location, but we spread far out into the Hampton Roads area in terms of all the services that we provide.

And I want to focus on those, bless you, on those individual programs right now.

The first one is our Operation Little Learner.

This is our largest program.

We have uh it's a 13-week program, a parent and me, pre-K prep, 18 months to five years old.

Um they're offered between 15 and 18 locations throughout the Hampton Roads area.

The majority of our locations are in military housing because what we know is that with young junior enlisted families, usually it's a one-car family, and that car goes on to installation, and that military family doesn't have a vehicle in order to provide other services, go shopping, go to preschool, things of that nature.

So we take that program to them, and we are in those communities.

In addition, we get very creative in terms of where we're going to hold.

We hold those programs at chapel, um, at libraries, um, and it's a parent and me program.

So the the premise of this program is that that child gets to learn their ABCs, letters, numbers, symbols, colors, but in addition to that, because the parent is there with them, we help mentor that that individual family member to be their child's first teacher, because we know the parent is always the child's first teacher.

So we help them with that process.

We have story time.

We read a story, but we engage the child.

So it kind of ultimately we're teaching the parent how to teach the child.

Um, in addition to that, that not only the academics that they receive, but the social and emotional skills of bonding with other children, but the parents as well.