Jewish Community Center of Omaha — Local services in Omaha

As a long-time member of the Jewish Community Center (JCC), I’ve always appreciated the quality of services, especially the swim program, which my three children have been a part of for over a year. We’ve invested a lot of time and money into swim lessons, ranging from semi-private sessions to private lessons and even the swim team. For the most part, we’ve been very satisfied with the JCC and its offerings. However, a recent experience left me frustrated and questioning the organization’s ability to effectively communicate and manage their schedules.

A few weeks ago, my daughter’s swim instructor had to change her schedule, and we were informed of this change without any alternative options being provided. Given the limited availability due to her school schedule, I took it upon myself to move her into a slot that worked, even though there was no assistance offered from the JCC. After a couple of weeks, I contacted the Director of Operations for clarification, only to receive an email back from the aquatics department stating that there were no available swim times for my son, who had originally been in the lesson. Instead, he was placed on a waitlist with no clear resolution in sight.

What I find most frustrating is that we didn’t initiate this change—it was the JCC’s decision to shift the schedule, and yet, we were left to navigate the situation on our own without adequate communication or support. I understand the challenges of managing staff and schedules, but this lack of proactivity and failure to offer solutions upfront is simply unacceptable, especially for families who rely on consistency and clear communication.

To be clear, I still believe the JCC offers a great program overall. But if you’re considering the swim lessons or any other programs, I’d urge you to be aware that unforeseen issues can arise, and how the JCC handles them might not always meet your expectations. This experience has been a wake-up call about the importance of good customer service and effective communication in what should be a reliable service.

In conclusion, while I’ve been generally happy with the JCC, this incident has shown me that even well-regarded institutions can falter when it comes to addressing issues in a timely and customer-focused manner. Proceed with caution and ensure that you get clear assurances about schedule changes and...

My family has been members of the JCC for over 40 years. I now travel frequently back and forth between my West coast home and Omaha and signed up for a membership in August of 2023. I had never seen the women’s health club and signed up for that to be added onto my membership. Unfortunately during 2024 I used the facility no more than 3 or 4 times due to a number of family emergencies and monthly work trips. I never thought about my locker or the items I had left in there because I didn’t think there would be an issue. I went back finally the beginning of this month. Imagine my surprise when I found a different name on my locker! I had one of the gals from the front desk come back with me and she then opened all the lockers in the vicinity. She mentioned several times there had been “a lot of turnover”. I checked in over the next 3 weeks to see if my items had been found. I was asked to send a description of each item, which I did, along with pictures. Last week I received an email telling me per the “liability” policy I was not going to be reimbursed for anything, along with the comment “we couldn’t find you had a health club membership”. So now I am also getting a veiled accusation that I made this up. Does the liability policy cover employees assigning a locker to someone else and removing items? Apparently so! This has left me with such a bad feeling I never want to go back. I’m afraid to leave my purse in a locker now for even a short workout. It really is too bad when a facility cannot admit that they...

If you are looking for a facility that caters to every single need a child could have, then this is the place for you. My wife and I joined because of the outdoor aquatic facilities and the fact that they have "adult swim" times. Be sure to read that super fine print, though. There is literally never one second of one day that children are not in that area. Ever. It's either swim team, camps, or the ever elusive "programs." Currently, there is one pool that you can't use until after 4pm, so everyone is shoved into the main large pool, that inconveniently has lap lanes, all day, every day, all summer long, despite having lap lanes in the indoor pool. The pool deck, chairs, trash cans, etc are never hosed down and cleaned, so there are globs of sunscreen, gum, food, wrappers, and my favorite, Band-Aids, always present. The real nail in the coffin was the installation of a never ending barrage of speed bumps that are so tall, a sports car could potentially become high centered on them. Why the need for more speed bumps at this alarming height you ask? Why, children, of course! You never see Tommy or Sally on the stretch of road where these were excessively installed, because it's the back side of the building, so it seems wildly unnecessary. Time to prioritize who pays the bills, folks, cause it's not the kids that come for two-day camps; it's...