YMCA worker honored for community impact

New York City artists, authors and educators gathered at the Rainbow Room in Manhattan Tuesday, October 30, as the YMCA honored a Cambria Heights resident and member of the YMCA family.
Hero K. Tamakloe, off-site coordinator for the YMCA of Greater New York’s Jamaica Branch, was among several YMCA workers honored for their community impact.
As an off-site coordinator, Tamakloe’s job is to forge partnerships between the YMCA and outside organizations, most notably schools. Tamakloe works with Jamaica’s P.S. 95, where he runs Virtual Y, an extended-day program that brings YMCA activities into the school.
“We assist kids with homework, reading, we offer sports, a cooking class - we have everything,” said Tamakloe.
The 300 or so students who are a part of Virtual Y at P.S. 95 report to the cafeteria as soon as the school day ends. Cedric Dew, executive director of the YMCA Jamaica Branch, said it’s a way of keeping kids off the streets.
“Around 6 p.m., when parents come to pick kids up, they can know their children have been helped with homework and been in the care of supervisors instead of roaming the streets,” said Dew.
Dew played a role in selecting Tamakloe as a YMCA honoree. Each year, he said, branch directors are asked to nominate members of the staff they feel have earned recognition.
“Hero was just the most logical choice,” said Dew. “He’s been doing this for us for about three or four years, and the outcomes are there. You look at the young people, or talk to the principals, and they’ll tell you - students’ grades are better for the work he’s done.”
Dew added that Tamakloe shows “extreme passion” for his work, and voices any concerns and needs P.S. 95 has.
Before he came to the United States in 1988, Tamakloe, a native of Togo, said his life was “very hard.”
“I come from a small country where you really don’t have the right to express your ideas,” he said. “I came over here so that I could achieve, do something positive.”
Tamakloe, 45, said he faced challenges when he emigrated - namely, the language barrier, as well as the difficulty of gaining legal immigrant status.
Now, Tamakloe is regarded as one of the strongest off-site coordinators in New York City, a reputation only cemented by the award he received late last month.
“We hold all of our staff to such high standards, so each year, when we pick honorees, we know those people have really gone above and beyond,” said Kevin Shermach, senior executive director of Marketing and Communications for the YMCA of Greater New York.
Jack Lund, the organization’s president and CEO, said Tamakloe “exemplifies the YMCA values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility.”
Other honorees included P.S. 42 Principal Rosa Casiello O’Day, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner, Tony Award-winning performer Christian Hoff, and author Dominic Carter.
Tamakloe said he hopes his career ultimately allows him to affect as many children as possible. Through Virtual Y, he has already impacted many local children, though he said the students are not the only ones who benefit.
“They learn from me, but I learn from them too,” he said. “Bringing together kids from many different backgrounds is a big challenge, but when you see their smile at the end of the day, you say, ‘Wow, I really affected them.’”