(By ANDREW SAMONEK)
BEDFORD, Texas — Jessica Bruda has been working on improving lives in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for the last 30 years through her work and volunteerism with local YMCAs.
Over the course of her tenure with the YMCA as a whole, she has worked diligently as a paid employee and volunteer to help bring the basic necessities to the less fortunate of her community with her big smile and glowing personality.
“I’d say Jess is the anchor for a lot of people,” best friend and neighbor Shonda Tice says. “Whenever I feel like crap or just need to talk to someone, she’s there. Jess will always go the extra mile for you, whoever you are.”
When she first started at the YMCA right out of high school, she worked in the after-school program for kids and began to learn there is more to the non-profit organization than meets the eye.
“We are more than what people think. We are youth sports, daycare, and fitness, but I like to share about The Y on the Fly, the food outreach, the share shelves we have, and how many of our branches are now mobile food pantries,” says Jessica, the executive director of youth and family programs.
Jessica is also the executive director of the Airport YMCA branch in Bedford, which allows her to be hands-on with her community as well as the region.
When her children were born, she stepped away from the YMCA as a profession for about 14 years and started to volunteer, where she saw the side of the organization which is vital to the effectiveness of their goal of community outreach.
Jessica returned to the YMCA still wanting to make it a place where people feel safe, and she wants to help people feel connected with each other.
She has been achieving this goal through programs like the Y On the Fly, which offers food to children under the age of 18 to help fight child hunger.
The YMCA has felt like a calling to Jessica. After her professional hiatus, she saw the YMCA as the only place she could see herself returning to work.
“The Y allows me to do outreach and impact the community. It allows me to spread my love to those around me, and hopefully, their lives were a little bit better because they encountered me and the Y.”
These interactions with those around her are what make her feel like her work is improving the lives of others. She described a child walking away singing and dancing after they got their Thanksgiving turkey as part of the Thanksgiving program.
To her, this is the best part of the job. Seeing her community happier is what makes the YMCA so special, especially when they go out of their way to tell her how they impacted their lives.
“Two brothers sent me a message saying that I had impacted their lives, and they were grateful. I don’t do what I do for the accolades. I do it because it’s the right thing to do. But still, it’s nice to hear every once in a while.”
