When Barney Reiley was in his late 20s and the competitive streak from his days as a basketball standout at Mary Washington College had not yet worn off, he was involved in a tense racquetball contest against one of his friends at the YMCA in Stafford County.
Reiley was still seething over his defeat when he had an epiphany.
“I remember walking back to my desk after I had helped these [special needs] children and I go, ‘These children will never get out of a wheelchair and run down a flyball. I just remember that kind of being my ‘aha’ moment,” Reiley said.
Reiley directed programming and camps at the YMCA for several years before being appointed CEO in 1993. He recently announced his retirement, capping a career that included tremendous growth in the Rappahannock Area YMCA, which added branches in Spotsylvania, King George and Caroline counties since 2002.
The region’s YMCAs grew from 1,500 members and a $500,000 yearly budget in 1984 to 30,000 members and a $17 million budget currently.
But despite the growth of the nonprofit’s business model, Reiley, 67, is proudest of two features added during his career — financial assistance for the less fortunate and programs for special needs children and adults.
“Taking our business model to other parts of Planning District 16, teaching kids to swim, getting them off the street, giving seniors a meaningful workout regimen and families a place to coalesce was a highlight,” Reiley said. “But more importantly than that, our growth afforded us the opportunity to be available to people who couldn’t afford to go to [other local gyms].
“My greatest accomplishment and that of the board is we established a building where the playing field of life was level for everyone. Regardless of age or financial capacity, we are all-inclusive.”
Barney Reiley (third from left) is pictured here with the founders of the Rappahannock Area YMCA, (left to right) Dr. Louis Massad, Don Newlin, Barbara Terry, Judge Gerry Dalton and the Rev. Paige Young. (Photo courtesy of Buddy Fredette)
Chief Financial Officer Gene Gregory will serve as interim CEO until the board hires a permanent replacement for Reiley.
Buddy Fredette, president of the YMCA Board of Directors, said Reiley was an ideal candidate to become CEO because of his “unbelievable passion and enthusiasm” for the organization. He said Reiley “bleeds YMCA,” waking up in the morning with the organization and community on his mind, working throughout the day to serve and going to bed at night dreaming about it.
“I’ve always considered Barney the undisputed champion of the Rappahannock Area YMCA,” Fredette said. “He never met a challenge that he wouldn’t take on head-first. I am extremely proud to have served over 27 years on the board with Barney as the CEO. I have watched him work his magic time and time again, all to the benefit of the citizens of our community.”
Some of that wizardry came early in Reiley’s tenure after two previous attempts to build a gymnasium at the YMCA in Stafford had failed. Donors were growing frustrated with the inability to complete the project, but Reiley’s gregarious personality ultimately helped get the job done.
“When I got the job in ‘93 I had to learn how to fundraise and get this gym done,” he said. “We had one bite of the apple to make this thing happen. We had to get it over the hump. With people like [Fredette], Ron Rosner and Frank Pohanka, we had some major players that got behind my energy. We not only built the gym, but the wellness center, too.”
Reiley’s first passion was creating and directing programs. The former Colonial Beach High School history and geography teacher helped launch the Colonial Beach Triathlon, which is now the longest-running event of its kind in Virginia. He said it was a challenge learning the financial aspects of being a CEO, but he had assistance from Fredette, Rosner and others.
Reiley’s daughter, Meaghan Williams, stands alongside him at the Colonial Beach Triathlon that he helped establish decades ago. (Photo courtesy of Barney Reiley).
In addition to the gym and wellness center, he helped oversee projects like an indoor tennis complex that was completed with assistance from former Free Lance-Star publisher and owner Josiah Rowe.
“They were all separate campaigns, one after another, and each one gave us momentum and credibility that we leveraged,” Reiley said. “We rode that wave.”
In 1999, the YMCA added a wellness pool in Stafford and constructed a youth wing in 2000. The tennis center was finished in 2002 and a water park two years later. The Ron Rosner Family YMCA was completed in Spotsylvania in 2003.
Five years later, the King George Family YMCA opened its doors, followed by a Caroline branch in 2014.
“From ‘93 to right now, we have raised at least $35 million in operational contributions as well as capital projects,” Reiley said.
Reiley was able to do it with help from his family. His daughters, Meaghan Williams and Devlin Reiley, both work for the organization after growing up around it.
Williams, the senior Vice President of Operations, oversees the King George and Stafford branches. She said she began to see the Y differently once she started working there as a 14-year-old.
“As a child, the Y was just somewhere we’d go and play, go to summer camp, but once I worked a summer camp, I saw what we did with financial assistance and special needs and it was very inspiring,” Williams said. “I have a business degree and could’ve gone a lot of places to work, but when I had that experience in camp, it stuck with me.”
Devlin Reiley, the Rappahannock YMCA’s director of marketing and promotions, saw firsthand the importance of the organization’s work with people rehabilitating from serious injuries after she was in a major car accident in 2004. The collision shattered her pelvis and ended her dreams of playing major college basketball.
“The employees there were like family to us and the resources that I received gave me a different type of love for the Y,” she said. “That’s why I switched from GEICO to come to the Y. Nonprofit life is not easy, but I started to see how much we’re helping people. I grew up seeing my dad really helping people and I have that instilled in me.”
