The Martinsville-Henry County YMCA, located at 3 Starling Ave. in Martinsville, is slated to receive $75,000 in CDBG funds for a planning grant to explore the feasibility of a newly constructed YMCA in the Five Points community, located in the West End of the Martinsville.
The project was part of the 33 projects and more than $23.6 million Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) across the Commonwealth announced in February by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
This new facility in Martinsville has the potential to serve as a community revitalizer and the ability to fundamentally transform an underserved portion of the city that houses low- and moderate-income residents.
This proposed new facility is the culmination of community input and feedback on critical needs, such as child-care, expanded health and exercise options and other needed amenities, identified by local residents and community stakeholders, including the Harvest Foundation and Martinsville.
Similar to other projects announced by Youngkin, this local initiative will support projects that rehabilitate housing, revitalize downtown districts, and improve water and sewer infrastructure benefiting more than 10,000 low- and moderate-income Virginians.
“The foundation of every thriving community includes affordable homes, robust infrastructure, and an economy that works for everyone,” said Youngkin. “CDBG continues to be an invaluable resource for addressing community-identified needs by filling in crucial funding gaps to build stronger communities across the Commonwealth.”
The federally funded CDBG program has been administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development since 1982 and annually receives approximately $19 million to distribute to small cities, counties and towns. With these funds, localities can provide new or improved water and sewer systems in rural areas, rehabilitate housing in declining neighborhoods, revitalize commercial districts and provide facilities for a variety of needed services, such as health care clinics in underserved areas.
“This planning grant will afford the City of Martinsville and our beloved YMCA with the capacity to determine the feasibility of a new community YMCA and ensure that community needs are met, particularly in Five Points,” said Brad Kinkema, CEO of the Martinsville-Henry County YMCA.
“Five Points is an underserved community that so richly deserves our investments of funds, time and attention. When we contemplated where to build a new YMCA and how to maximize and leverage the construction to have the greatest impact on Martinsville, the West End and Five Points community was the clear choice for this multi-million dollar investment,” he added.
The feasibility study will be completed this fall. Once finalized, the new YMCA is expected to be constructed and open in the fall 2028.
