The Gateway Family YMCA

Legal name: Young Men's Christian Association of Eastern Union County

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
221487381
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Elizabeth, NJ, United States
Phone
(908) 249-4800
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Young Men's or Women's Associations
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$17,630,915
Expenses
$17,971,371
Assets
$28,573,411
Liabilities
$9,009,961

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • James Masterson (PRESIDENT)
  • John Forrester (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • Karen Ensle (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • Joseph Venezia (PAST PRESIDENT)
  • Melynda Disla (President / Chief Executive Officer)

Highest reported compensation

  • Melynda Disla (President / Chief Executive Officer): $357,527 total reported compensation
  • Rodger Koerber (Chief Operating Officer): $250,712 total reported compensation
  • David Webber (Chief Financial Officer): $239,130 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

At the Y, We're For All our mission is to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all. At the Y, we get the job done through professional staff members who possess — and will model in their work with those we serve — our four core values of caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility. The Y is more than a job; it’s a career! The Y has a wide-reaching system of training and development opportunities. With more than 175 years of experience, the Y knows that its mission is achieved one person at a time — carried out in the hearts and hands of each caring and skillful staff member. The Gateway Family YMCA provides a fun, learning and safe working environment. We offer health and fitness, aquatics, membership, child care centers, and day camps in Elizabeth, Rahway, and Union. Hous.

What it reported doing in 2025

Wise community services wellness, independence, and socialization for our elders (w.i.s.e.) community services assists older adults and those diagnosed with alzheimer's, dementia, cognitive impairments, and/or funcitional and physical challenges maintain independence and improve their quality of life. The goal is to keep participants and their caregivers as physically, cognitively, and emotionally well as possible so they avoid unnecessary institutionalization. Wise community services impacts the lives of individuals with physical challenges and memory impairment, their caregivers and families through a supportive environment with dedicated staff and specialized programming. The gateway family ymca is committed to the idea that each person, despite challenges, can continue to discover, learn, create, and flourish and not be defined by their limitations. Financial assistance is available to ensure that wise community services is available to all.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.1%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 75.4%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1.9%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.59; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.32; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.2%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 77.1% of revenue deployed · 75.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 6 filed program accomplishments · $13.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $358K · 23 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $308K reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.