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Transforming childcare with the Greater Philadelphia YMCA
Impact
6,000+
children served each year
27,000
camper weeks annually
7
counties across Greater Philadelphia
Organization:
YMCA
Community:
15 branches
Individuals Served:
240,000+
OVERVIEW
A mission rooted in community, transformed by technology
Every day, thousands of families in Greater Philadelphia depend on the YMCA for safe, enriching child care programs that nurture, teach, and empower the next generation. But behind the scenes, dedicated staff faced a different reality: disconnected systems, endless paperwork, and families stuck in a maze of forms, fees, and waitlists.
Delivering high-quality, accessible child care at scale was harder than it should be. That’s why the YMCA partnered with Traction Rec to streamline registration, financial assistance, and the parent experience.
Just imagine a family who is enrolled in Philly Pre-K, which is a zero-fee program, but they also are enrolled in wraparound care, for which they receive most of their [costs] covered by subsidy… There’s a lot of different touches on these accounts.
Jen Segelken
SVP of Youth Development
challenge
Overwhelming admin, disconnected systems, frustrated families
With thousands of children enrolled across seasonal programs and a wide-reaching financial assistance model, managing child care at the Greater Philadelphia YMCA was no small feat. Financial assistance is at the heart of their mission, ensuring every child has access, regardless of their family’s means. However, that impact came with serious complexity: varying subsidy structures, fluctuating enrollment, and tight timelines for seasonal registration.
On top of that, staff were overwhelmed by long manual waitlists, confusing paperwork, and frustrating manual registration and follow-up processes. Families were left waiting, and frontline staff spent valuable time on repetitive admin instead.
What they didn’t need was a software company telling them to change how they operate, they needed a partner willing to build around their existing strengths. Traction Rec came to the table ready to create systems tailored specifically to their needs, so they could continue delivering essential services to their communities - at scale.
Key challenges:
- Complex financial assistance models across multiple child care programs
- Manual waitlist management and seasonal enrollment bottlenecks
- Paper-based processes and disconnected systems
- Staff time consumed by administrative tasks and follow-ups
- A need for technology that supports (not replaces) how they serve their community
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Solution
A partnership that puts people and families first
Traction Rec didn’t arrive with a one-size-fits-all product. Instead, the team took a problem-solving approach, meeting with stakeholders, digging into operational roadblocks, and designing workflows that matched how Greater Philadelphia YMCA already served their community.
From the start, this was about more than just technology, it was about making the Y’s mission more scalable. The organization needed a system that could handle complex registrations, multiple layers of financial assistance, and seasonal transitions without disruption. Traction Rec listened, adapted, and built features around those exact needs.
<iframe width="700" height="394" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1n6Hz4cucsE" title="Key wins and a smooth transition for the YMCA’s child care operations" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Implementation happened in deliberate phases: first child care programs, then memberships, and finally full registration. This phased rollout was carefully timed to follow the Y’s seasonal calendar, helping staff and families transition smoothly without interrupting services.
To ensure success on the ground, internal team members were selected and trained as “Traction Champions.” These staff led the charge from within, supporting their teams, answering questions, and building confidence in the new system alongside the Traction Rec team.
Implementation highlights:
- Collaborative discovery sessions to design around existing operations
- Phased rollout aligned with the Y’s seasonal programming schedule
- New platform workflows built for complex financial aid and subsidies
- No service interruptions during transition
- “Traction Champions” led internal staff training and adoption
Our migration was [at least] our first win. It was smooth. It was painless.
Toni Marie Bell
Business Process Analyst
REsults
Child care made simple for families and staff
The results were felt quickly. As Toni Marie Bell, Business Process Analyst at the Greater Philly Y, shared: “We’re six months in, and staff are already comfortable. I can only imagine how confident they’ll be a year from now.”
Even before the YMCA of Greater Philadelphia officially launched their new registration system to the public, something surprising happened—registrations started rolling in. And even more surprising? Not a single call from confused parents. It was clear: the system was intuitive, user-friendly, and exactly what families needed.
Staff gained time back. Parents found clarity. And leadership finally had real visibility into programs that once ran on spreadsheets and best guesses. Here’s a snapshot of what changed:
Curious to see more?
Watch the webinar and hear it from the Greater Philadelphia YMCA team about how they streamlined child care operations at scale for families, staff, and leadership alike.
