March 23, 2018

Meet Kimberly Cohen of Hockomock Area YMCA in North Attleboro

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Cohen.

Kimberly, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I graduated from UMass Amherst with a BFA in Dance. In exploring my career options, I realized being a professional dancer would be challenging physically, mentally and financially. I had dreamed my whole life of being a professional dancer and was doing my auditions and realizing this might not be the path I want to pursue. This was certainly not an easy decision but a hip injury really helped me finalize my path. I decided I would explore a career in health and wellness, as I had been a group exercise instructor for years and studied exercise science as well in college. I was offered a job as the Health and Wellness Director at the West Suburban YMCA in Newton an affluent community outside of Boston. I knew nothing about the YMCA but quickly was intrigued by the dedication of the members to what I viewed as a more expensive and older facility than the other private fitness centers in the region.

I quickly realized that YMCA was so much more than a treadmill and group exercise class choreography. The Y was a place to belong. The Y provides a sense of community and inclusion and is truly welcoming to all. Senior members shared hilarious stories of them as youth swimming naked in the pool, at the time, all male facility. The Y has certainly evolved. I wanted to explore more of the mission work of the Y and served as a Sr. Program Director at the Pawtucket Family YMCA in Rhode Island. I quickly realized, I had never experienced a community quite like Pawtucket. Growing up in the suburbs in upstate NY, were there was no crime and only happy memories, I was now immersed in a community where English was not the first language for many of the residents. The Y that I knew where stay at home moms would workout and bring their children to mommy and me programs was replaced with gangs, single parents trying to make ends meet and our Y as a safe haven for children and families to grow, find support and again, build community.

I learned a lot in my time at the Pawtucket Family YMCA that still shapes my career today as understanding the needs of various cultures and support families most in need, is the heart of the YMCA mission and fuels my work today specifically, around our anti-hunger initiatives. My husband and I had the pleasure of welcoming our son into the world and I was blessed to have the opportunity to stay home for two and a half years. I quickly realized, I missed working and specifically for the YMCA. I applied to go back to work and landed at the Hockomock Area YMCA serving fifteen communities in Massachusetts surrounding Foxoboro, Franklin, and North Attleboro. Going back to my health and wellness roots, I worked again in branch operations until five years ago, we decided to focus our team’s energy on our public health based work. I currently serve as the Sr. Director of Health Innovation for the Hockomock Area YMCA. Our team has three initiatives focused on youth obesity prevention, medical wellness and anti-hunger.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I approach the challenges I have faced as opportunities. I was convinced that I would be a stay at home mom. I had visions of scrap booking and making organic jelly I grew out of my home garden. I remember going out to dinner with my husband for our anniversary and having a tear roll down my cheek as I explained, I wanted to go back to work. Being a woman, I had self inflicted guilt that I was choosing my career over my children. Financially, I did not have to work but I was choose to work because I wanted to. This entire notion seemed selfish but necessary. I was challenged with quieting my inner judgement and embracing being a working mom. My friends and I laugh at the bus stop, as I am jealous of the moms in their yoga pants heading to the gym to workout.

While at the same time, they envy my “big girl clothes” high heels and fantastic dress as I head off to work. Choosing work for me was one of the best decisions I had made as though, my time with my now school age children is limited the quality of time we spend together is precious and I am more intentional. I am blessed to have found a career that enables me to take a break at 1:15 pm to see my daughters school concert. Or, to go into work at 6 am so I can leave 8 or 9 hours later to be able to drive my children to their activities. Or, to work later in the day so I can get them on the bus and enjoy breakfast with them in the morning. My career fulfills me and I am able to model to my children that you can be anything you want to be. And sometimes, that will evolve as your needs change and the needs of your family change. I am lucky to have a career I am passionate about and by working for a not-for-profit it is the mission based work that fuels me. I am truly a better mother and wife because I work. My working as definitely made our life crazier and I have had to modify my expectations of what a clean house looks like.

Being a working mom has taught me patience, time management skills, resiliency in how to handle the curve balls when you and your husband both have important meetings (at the same time) and the school calls as your child is sick. I don’t really have time to worry about the little things. I am surrounded by great women who all at some point have struggled with their own identity and how that fits in with their families and their goals. There is no right answer for each woman or family and I feel lucky to have found a perfect balance of chaos that works for mine.

Hockomock Area YMCA – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
At the Hockomock Area, YMCA serves 50,000 lives annually across fifteen communities in Massachusetts surrounding our three full-facility branches in Foxboro, North Attleboro and Franklin. As a non-profit, annually we provide over $2 million worth of confidential financial subsides to families in the community that are in need of supportive programs and services at the YMCA.

I have the pleasure of overseeing the Health Innovation Department. Our team focuses on creating healthier communities by focusing on three areas – medical wellness, healthy food access and healthy futures (youth obesity prevention). My current role is perfect for me and has evolved over the years. In my role, I focus on how to identify public health needs and finding evidence based solutions. The team I work with is brilliant, passionate and hard working which makes coming to work enjoyable. No day is ever the same. My favorite part of my job is networking. As an extrovert, being surrounded by people fuels me. Finding way to collaborate to reach our collective goals of creating healthier communities is an exciting challenge I embrace every day. Our partners include organizations such as hospitals, school systems, food pantries and non-profit organizations.

I am most proud of the work we do with the medical community. Physicians refer patients to our evidence-based health interventions. Each year, our Y serves about 500 individuals and their families. These programs support individuals living with cancer, multiple sclerosis, prediabetes, youth obesity, arthritis and hypertension. We are one of four YMCA’s in the country that has received full recognition status from the Diabetes Prevention and Recognition Program which means our YMCA is eligible to offer the Diabetes Prevention Program as a Medicare covered benefit. This is a huge change nationally to have community based organizations have electronic medical records and be able to bill Medicare. We have been working for years on this project and excited about the positive impact this will have on the health of seniors and adults in our service area.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I define success by feeling great on what you do. Surround yourself with great people at work, in your social life and in your home. Being with people that give 120% all of the time is important to me. If what you are doing doesn’t bring you joy… then don’t do it. I like to set clear, measurable personal and professional goals. Nothing excites me more than knocking these goals out of the park. I am a true believer that we can constantly grow, learn and evolve. I am a life long learner. I am a well respected public health professional and I had zero background in public health. But I have and continue to learn, how to strive to be the best mother, wife, daughter, friend, superior, employee, volunteer… all while practicing self care. Juggling being a working mom of two busy children is often times draining. We have an analogy that we use to do what refuels you. Read, sit, hang out with friends, go for a walk, yoga, a glass of wine, laugh, dinner with my husband, a puzzle with the kids… whatever it is, find what fills your tank and do it, so you can continue to be the best you can be for the people in your life that are counting on you.

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