About the YMCA

America's 2,663 YMCAs serve more than 20.2 million people each year, uniting men, women and children of all ages, races, faiths, backgrounds, abilities and income levels. YMCAs across the country are developing a culture of inclusion in order to unite all diversities and fulfill the variety of needs and interests for all members. At the heart of community life across America, mission-driven YMCAs are a place to belong and to live the values that guide and unite our members: caring, honesty, respect and responsibility.

From cities to suburbs to small towns, YMCAs serve America's children, families and communities by "building healthy spirit, mind and body for all." Across the country, 67.7 million households and 33.7 million children 14 and under live within three miles of a YMCA.

The YMCA's Beliefs

• At the YMCA, we build strong kids, strong families, strong communities. By providing a nurturing environment for kids, teens, adults and families, the YMCA brings people together, celebrates diversity and strengthens spirit, mind and body for all.
• All YMCA programs for kids, teens, adults and families are built upon the core values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility.
• YMCAs embrace people of all ages, incomes, abilities, religions and ethnic backgrounds; they're for everyone. Ys work to break barriers of isolation and to create the connections between people that add meaning to life. Children and families who cannot afford to pay full costs deserve the experiences the Y offers as much as those who can. Your support, which goes beyond membership fees, helps YMCAs provide programs to those who otherwise couldn't afford to participate. At the YMCA, no one is turned away due to the inability to pay.

Values

The values that guide us unite us. All YMCA programs for kids, teens, adults and families are built upon the core values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility. The values we learn as a child are the values we carry with us throughout life. They define who we are, what we will become and the mark we leave upon the world.

Today, more than 40 languages are spoken in Ys across the United States. But no matter which language is spoken, all communicate our core values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility, just as they do in each of the 120 countries around the world where people can find a Y to call their own.

A Second Home

Everyone needs a place to belong. A haven, where judgment is left at the door. At the YMCA openness and acceptance abound in an atmosphere of friendship and belonging. It's where teamwork is valued, relationships are nurtured and the uniqueness of the individual is celebrated.

Where can you go? Whom can you trust? How can you be sure? For millions of people all around the globe, the answer is the Y. A place where parents can feel secure their children will be watched over. A unique environment where trust, love and compassion flourish.

At the Y, everyone is welcome. Regardless of where you were born, what you believe in, or where you’re located on the economic scale. It is a place where people are just that-people. A celebration of the individuality that makes us who we are.

For over 160 years, the YMCA has been working to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build a healthy spirit, mind and body for all. We're not a gym, or a health club, or a day care center, but rather deeply rooted, not-for-profit community service organization with a long history of success in working for the greater good.

The Y History

The YMCA has started, nurtured and shared many great organizational programs throughout its history. It has developed an environment for the birth of ideas that otherwise might never have been able to accomplish so much? Simply put, it's through a powerful combination of autonomy, creativity, practicality and the Y's solid commitment to its core values. It is a result of our willingness to be flexible, to try new things, to pioneer and above all, put our emphasis on people. The YMCA continues to grow with new membership, new programs and new facilities.

Fun History Facts!

• The YMCA created the first indoor swimming pool!
  • The first reported YMCA swimming bath was built at the Brooklyn (NY) Central YMCA in 1885. By the end of the year, it was reported that 17 Ys had pools.
• The YMCA invented basketball!
  • By hanging peach baskets from the bottom of a second-level running track and thirteen simple rules to the wall, YMCA instructor James Naismith brought the game of basketball to the world in 1891.
• The YMCA invented volleyball!
  • Volleyball was invented at the Holyoke (Mass.) YMCA in 1895, by William Morgan, an instructor at the Y who felt that basketball was too strenuous for businessmen. Morgan blended elements of basketball, tennis and handball into the game and called it mintonette. The name "volleyball" was first used in 1896 during an exhibition at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Mass., to better describe how the ball went back and forth over the net.
• The YMCA invented Racquetball!
  • Racquetball was invented in 1950 at the Greenwich (Conn.) YMCA by Joe Sobek, a member who couldn't find other squash players of his caliber and who did not care for handball. He tried paddleball and platform tennis and came up with the idea of using a strung racquet similar to a platform tennis paddle (not a sawed-off tennis racquet, as some say) to allow a greater variety of shots. After drawing up rules for the game, Sobek went to nearby Ys for approval by other players, and at the same time formed them into the Paddle Rackets Association to promote the sport. The original balls were half red and half blue. But the red side was found to mar the court walls. To reduce the marks on the court walls, Sobeck asked that the balls all be a standard color-the non-marring blue.

Faces of the YMCA

Among the many who found their lives influenced by their experience with the Y are: