MY Y STORY: KARI’S GROWTH AT THE Y
HOW COMING TO THE Y HAS HELPED HER PHYSICALLY, EMOTIONALLY
Five days a week, without fail, you will find Kari Morse, 38, at the Corning Family YMCA.
“When we first started coming, she only wanted to come one day a week,” said Kari’s support person Katrina. “Now, when it is time to leave, she is never happy about that. It often can take an extended amount of time to get her to walk outside to go to the car.”
Kari joined the Y in March of 2018. She takes classes like ReFit because she likes to dance. She also will spend up to two and a half hours on the NuStep machine.
“I do more than a thousand steps,” Kari said. “I feel great, I feel strong afterwards.”
Kari found another passion that makes her feel strong – boxing.
“I’m a boxer!” Kari said. “Bonnie’s my trainer.”
“Kari is another one of our members that allows all of us to smile just a little bit more every day,” said Bonnie Mann, former Health & Wellness Director and Boxing Instructor at our Corning Family Branch.
Bonnie is a retired professional boxer, who loves to share the benefits of boxing with our members. She has a special relationship with Kari.
“Her personality is infectious, and she has a genuine love for the YMCA and its staff,” Mann said.
But Kari is not only getting stronger physically; she is growing in many other areas, and encourages others, like Katrina, to come to the Y with her.
“The biggest thing that I have seen has been the socialization that she has become more comfortable with,” said Katina. “She has made several friends and even friends with some of the staff.”