A volunteer who is part of the community Ellen Appleby

“The Y in a huge way has transformed this neighborhood, and my experience of living here, into a community,”

By Mary Newman

In kindergarten, Ellen Appleby remembers noticing a difference between her drawings and the many stick figures being drawn by her peers.

Graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design, she was the first of her family to pursue a career in art. Raised by doctors, Appleby has always placed importance on living a healthy lifestyle. She has been an Upper East Side resident since moving into her very first New York apartment in 1980, where she still lives today.

Appleby knew she wanted to be in New York at the start of her career because as a freelance artist she wanted the energy Manhattan could provide. “If you work alone it’s really nice to be in a city,” she said. “Because when you step outside your door after hours and hours alone you are immediately surrounded people and inspiration.”

Having lived on the same block for more than 20 years, Appleby attributes much of the neighborhood’s success to the Vanderbilt YMCA on East 47th Street. Despite never being an athlete, she has always made her physical fitness a priority.

“I’m one of the last generations of women that graduated [high school] before Title 9 was introduced,” she said. “I had never lifted weights and never felt comfortable in a traditional gym setting. I found the Y to be an extremely accepting place for people at all levels of fitness.”

Appleby can be seen walking through the halls of the Y every single day, according to Mary Park, director of fund development and communications. “She’s extremely committed to her health, we’re so happy she has become a part of our community at the Y.” The two have gotten to know each other after Appleby began volunteering her time to improve several programs at the Y.

After regularly attending fitness classes, Appleby became friendly with other members. She would communicate her ideas with different staff members, and it wasn’t long before they asked her to join their Quality Assurance Committee. Staff at the Y was impressed with her suggestions, and her ability to communicate with YMCA members so easily.

“If I see someone more than once in a class, or in the elevator, it is just in my nature to introduce myself,” she said. Her calm demeanor is extremely inviting, and has allowed her to create an open path of communication between YMCA members and staff.

Since joining her first committee two years ago, Appleby has since discovered all that the YMCA has to offer. Unaware of exactly how involved they were with community development, she now offers her voice to spread the word and raise money. She regularly brings friends and colleagues to meetings with staff so they can hear all the different ways the Y improves the neighborhood.

After being asked to visit the TAG School, where the Vanderbilt YMCA holds one of its many after-school programs, she was able to see the positive influence the Y has the community and knew she had to be a part of it.

“During that first trip to the TAG School I brought two friends of mine along with me,” she said. “We had no idea that this kind of program was going on, and we spent the entire afternoon with the kids.” As Appleby learned more about everything the Y is involved with, she began telling her peers at the gym so they would be more likely to donate or volunteer themselves.

Appleby is now planning several classes and workshops that will be offered to children taking part in different YMCA after school programs. This past week she taught a group of kids between the ages of 5-8 how to use geometric shapes to draw animals, something she will be doing much more regularly in coming months.

“The Y in a huge way has transformed this neighborhood, and my experience of living here, into a community,” she said. For no reason other than wanting to help those around her, Ellen Appleby has chosen to commit so much of her time to improving the Vanderbilt YMCA. She shares her immense talent as an illustrator with the children at the Y, and helped promote an environment where community members and YMCA staff work together.