LEWISTON — Three years after money woes almost forced the YWCA of Central Maine to shut its doors, the 135-year-old institution just installed a $10,000 phone system and has scheduled $25,000 in exterior building repairs to begin in a couple of weeks.

But don’t mistake the changes for financial freedom, director Kathy Durgin-Leighton said.

The phone upgrade came from a donor. And the exterior work, replacing the clapboard exterior on two sides, was made because it couldn’t be delayed any longer.

“We didn’t plan this for cosmetic reasons,” Durgin-Leighton said Wednesday, standing beside the south side wall. The clapboard walls looked sunburned, brittle and worn. Gaps opened between some boards, shredding the protecting paper beneath and allowing the weather to rain in.

One building examiner said the remaining baked and battered wood resembled “potato chips.”

Repairs are scheduled to begin in two weeks. But the repair money could have been used elsewhere.

“We’re meeting our budget,” Durgin-Leighton said Wednesday. “We’re not bleeding. Having said that, we’re not putting money away right now.”

It’s a long way from August 2010, when YWCA President Lee Young gathered staff and told them the YWCA was closing. The institution had become mired in debt. It owed $167,000 to vendors and $565,000 on its mortgage. Its building on Lewiston’s East Avenue needed repairs. Four days after the public announcement, the closure was called off.

More than $75,000 in donations had come in. By the following week, the total hit $200,000. By week three, the pool of money was at $300,000.

For a year, the YWCA raised money. The board hired Durgin-Leighton. And they began to rebuild and expand programs.

“In all of the financial turmoil we have had, we have not been able to have money for capital expenditures to take care of the building,” Young said. “We have taken care of what was absolutely necessary.”

A savings account is needed, Durgin-Leighton said.

A capital campaign to build savings could begin as early as this fall, she said.

In part, it’s needed to ensure that expenses are covered during lean months when less revenue is coming in. Like a family trying to get beyond a paycheck-to-paycheck existence, it’s good budgeting, she said.

But there is a growing need for another pricey repair. The building was built in 1972 and added to in 1987. The older section above the pool needs a new roof, Durgin-Leighton said.

“It’s very clear. We don’t have those funds. It must be done, though,” she said. “It’s been bad. We’ve had patchwork done, so it’s not leaking now. (But) the roof is almost gone in that area. And so it’s just a matter of time.

“I will give it another year and a half to two years,” she said.

It’s not as dark as it was, though.

Bills are being paid on time and the institution is thriving in some ways, drawing people to such varied programs as yoga, dog training and “Hula Hooping for Fun and Fitness.” Meanwhile, its traditional focus on after-school care for kids and all manner of exercises relating to its pool continue to thrive.

The first fundraising campaign worked, Durgin-Leighton said.

“We’re open,” she said. “We’re providing, I think, a really great service to the community. And we’re taking care of our building.”

dhartill@sunjournal.com

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