It all started with a group of ladies in Dillon, MT – they had a dream for a community pool.
Though a pool in and of itself was a great idea, Carol Sloan helped the ladies to see that a pool alone wouldn’t be profitable enough in the small town community to support maintenance costs over the years. Rather, she proposed an idea for a community center, which would offer recreational programs and activities, as well as a place for kids and adults to gather. With that, the dream for a community pool morphed into the vision for a local YMCA.
The Sloans were instrumental in seeing the dream become a reality, as they brought a group from YMCA of the Triangle out to Dillon to begin planning and raising awareness, and laid the fund-raising groundwork with their donation.
The 2012 Southwestern Montana Family YMCA Executive Summary details the history as follows:
“With a population of 9,000 in Beaverhead County and nearly 6,000 in adjacent counties, the need for a Y was overwhelming. Before the Y was built, no recreation center and/or community center existed. There was no place in Dillon or neighboring communities where kids and families could learn to swim, nowhere for seniors to congregate, socialize and exercise and nowhere for young people to go ater school for safe productive activities, to help build their self-esteem and develop healthy lifestyles.
The Swenson Family of Dillon and California saw the community need for a YMCA and graciously donated 6.23 pristine acres on December 2001. This site is pristine and ideal as it is located within the city limits adjacent to ‘Pig Tail Creek’, a tributary to the Beaverhead River.
On June 7, 2005 Capital Campaign 1 was launched during a festive Ground Breaking Ceremony. Thanks to the generosity and vision of numerous community members, volunteers, businesses, Foundations, corporations, visitors and out of state landowners, our state of the art YMCA opened on January 10, 2006.”
Almost 20 years later, the SWMF YMCA is a dynamic part of the community in Dillon, MT. The Sloan Family Foundation continues to support them today.
