(Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of three articles portraying individuals who have been given an opportunity through money donated to the Moultrie YMCA’s Building Better Lives campaign (formerly known as the Patron Drive) and some of those who have made a difference through a gift. Financial assistance — made possible through gifts to the Building Better Lives campaign — make YMCA programs and services available for youth and families who cannot afford them on their own.

The majority of financial assistance is awarded in YMCA memberships, followed by the Y’s school age child care programs — afterschool and summer day camp, youth sports and adult memberships for rehabilitation and therapeutic exercise.

The Fund Drive runs through the end of May.)

By Mary Trescot

YMCA volunteer

MOULTRIE — Isabel Garza is typical of many young women. She married and became a stay-at-home mother at a very young age. Once her three children became school age, she began thinking that she might be able to contribute to the family financially, if she sought employment.

The idea of working after being home for so long was very frightening, Garza said.

“I had a high school diploma but little work experience,” she said. “I wasn’t sure how to begin the process.”

Her fluency in Spanish gave her a quick edge in the job market and she secured employment in a local physician’s office.

“I was very timid and scared and not at all sure I could handle being out in the work world,” added Garza.

While Garza worried about her ability to succeed in her new job, she had a far greater challenge to deal with — the issue of childcare.

“Almost every mother these days has to face the childcare issue,” she said. “For me it wasn’t just finding a caring and safe place to leave my children afterschool and during the summer, but one that I could afford. My husband and I were on a very tight budget and we were trying to save money to purchase our first home. Three children in day care and a fourth child on the way, I wasn’t sure I could afford to go to work.”

A friend told Garza about the YMCA’s policy of not being turned away due to the inability to pay.