At Wilson Medical Center, you’ll find team members helping their neighbors inside and outside our hospital walls. Paige Chesson, Market Quality Manager at Wilson & Maria Parham Physician Practices recently went far beyond the call of duty to serve area families.

“In August of 2022, I established a social, service club with a few others to connect young women of Wilson and give back to our community,” Paige says. “As president of the club, I’m proud to report that we recruited 65 women ages 21-45 in our first year.”

Along with gathering to enjoy fellowship among their peers, the women work together to raise funds for local causes. The group considers community needs and determines the most impactful ways to contribute. This year, Paige’s group raised $21,000 for Y-GIG, a local youth program for area middle schoolers. That translates to funding for 31 teens to attend the program for an entire year at no cost.

“As many of us are young working moms, we understand the value of high-quality after-school care,” Paige says. “We hope that by helping provide engaging activities for teens, we both enrich the lives of the youth and help working parents stay employed full-time.”

Y-GIG, an after-school program, typically running 3:30-6:30pm, offers enriching activities focused on five key areas: academics, arts/humanities, college/career, health/wellness and STEM. Community members and businesses help facilitate the “gigs” – programs and activities, with some occurring onsite at Y-GIG and others hosted within the community. Students receive snacks and drinks upon arrival, and they can work on homework until they're dismissed to their gigs.

“A big benefit is that Y-GIG offers bus transportation to students at our five public middle schools, meaning parents don’t have to leave work to get their students to this program,” Paige adds. Along with being picked up prior to the program, Y-GIG offers bussing back to school at the end of the day, as well as assigned Youth Coordinators to provide extra support.

To learn more about Y-GIG, visit https://www.wilsonymca.org/y-gig