Maribel Mehling's Y Story

Maribel Mehling has been with the YMCA on and off for the last 15 years since starting in Eagan, Minnesota.  

Mehling moved to the cities when Austin, her son, had surgery and she took a leave from teaching. She was not working and her husband was attending anesthesia school and couldn’t work at the time either. 

“The YMCA was a place where we could go,” she said. “I was able to at that point take advantage of their no-fee membership which was phenomenal, and my 4-year-old was attending preschool there while I worked out for a couple of hours a day those two years. We couldn’t have done it without the YMCA. It just made life so much easier for all of us.”  

Mehling knew she would give back somehow, whether donating finances or time or skill as a teacher, when she finally realized she was in a place she could use the free membership.  

“The YMCA does a lot of programming through the school that I worked at, Myers Wilkins,” she said. “I saw the YMCA in action and wanted to give back what they had given me for those two years. It just became a place where our kids, my family, and I felt acceptance, and [the YMCA is] just a comfortable place/environment.” 

Mehling and her family try to get to the YMCA at least once or twice a week, to work out and use a personal trainer. They also go to the YMCA in Superior once a week for swimming.  

 “I think my favorite thing about the YMCA is that I am very comfortable,” she said. “I think it’s a safe environment. It’s a comfortable place for my kids, my two special needs kids because they often need more space, more time, and just a safe environment.”