Kim’s Y story began when her youngest son started preschool at the Meriden YMCA at age two. Nearly five years ago, Kim joined the Y staff as a Member Service Representative. After helping lead the camp office for a summer, she became Welcome Center Manager, a role she has held for the past three years.
“We have a great team. We all help each other and work together to help our members as much as we can,” Kim says. “I strive to make sure we’re always providing the best customer service.” For Kim, that starts with building relationships.
“What I love most about working at the Y is the people. I love seeing the kids and watching them grow up at the Y, like my own son. I love seeing the smiling faces of our preschoolers every morning. And I love the relationships we build with our members. It really does become a family.”
That Y family became especially important to Kim when her life changed unexpectedly.In July 2025, she noticed a lump in her breast and went to her doctor. Testing showed the lump was not cancerous, but after reviewing Kim’s family history, her doctor recommended additional screening. An MRI in December 2025 detected cancer on the opposite side. Kim received a call from her doctor telling her that a biopsy had tested positive for breast cancer. “It was scary. Everything happened so fast,” she recalls. “It became doctor’s appointment after doctor’s appointment, and the next thing I knew, I was having surgery.” Kim underwent a bilateral mastectomy followed by four months of chemotherapy. Today, she is grateful to be in remission.
Throughout her treatment, Kim felt the support of her Y family through phone calls, meals, gift cards and countless acts of kindness. “My Y family supported me throughout everything,” she says.
Kim is sharing her experience to encourage other women to pay attention to their health and make time to care for themselves. Kim knows how easy it can be for women to put their families, jobs and other responsibilities ahead of themselves. “Especially as women, we tend to put everybody else first and ourselves last,” she says.
“Had I not found that lump, I probably would have never gone to the doctor,” Kim says. “I would have never paid attention to myself. But I did and thank God.”
“It is difficult to talk about but if sharing what I went through can remind someone to check on their health, talk to their doctor or be there for someone else going through cancer, then I want to do that.”
“I’m here. Sometimes it’s still a little scary because you just don’t know. I’m taking it one day at a time.” And she’s doing it surrounded by a community she considers family.