When Tyler Wright became executive director of the Helena YMCA nearly eight years ago, the Y had fewer than a thousand members and an annual budget of around $600,000.

This month, as Wright leaves town to run a larger Y in suburban Los Angeles, the Helena Y has around 2,500 members and a budget of $1.3 million per year.

"I feel like it's time for a change of leadership at our Y, to take that organization to the next level," said Wright, 48. "I came to Helena thinking it would be a good learning experience. We always thought it would be a great transition for us, and it's become home. This has been a tough decision. It's gut-wrenching."

He's bound for the YMCA in Glendale, Calif., which Wright said has some 5,000 members and a budget of $4.5 million. That organization until recently owned a pair of camps on Catalina Island off the Southern California coast, but recently sold those properties to the island conservancy, Wright said.

"I think it's a Y that's now searching for an identity," he said.

Among other successes, in Wright's tenure in Helena, the annual Friends of Youth fundraising campaign grew from raising $18,000 to more than $100,000, with the help of more than 100 volunteer campaigners.

Also, the YMCA's Camp Child, across the Continental Divide from Helena, was overhauled and winterized, with programming established to use the facility year-round.

"We're proud that Camp Child is once again thriving, serving 200 to 300 kids on an annual basis," Wright said. "We were able to turn it around to such a degree that it's a viable entity of its own."

Even the number of volunteer board members has grown, from eight at the start of the decade to around 30 today.

"He improved the image of our YMCA through the improvement of the Y camp and its programs, our membership drives and fundraising efforts, and he brought color and fun to bear, and that's his personality," said Rick Pyfer, a current board member and past chair. "He truly loves young people and working with them to increase their potential."

Wright was also active and kept a high profile with several other organizations around the community, including time as president of Helena Kiwanis, auctioneer for the Helena Symphony and as an actor in several popular community theater productions around town.

Wright's wife, Katie, and two children will remain in Helena for a year, as Katie has a contract in place to teach another year at Hawthorne Elementary.

Program director Teri Wright (no relation) has been named interim CEO while the local board conducts a search with the help of consultants from the national YMCA organization. The board hopes to have a permanent director in place this fall.

"He left a good, strong board and base and it will be a good situation for the next person to move into," Pyfer said.

John Harrington: 447-4080 or john.harrington@helenair.com

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