Our Mission
To put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all.

The YMCA Movement
The nation’s YMCAs serve more than 20 million people each year, uniting men, women and children of all ages, faiths, backgrounds, abilities and income levels. 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 urban areas to small towns, more than 2,600 YMCAs serve America’s children, families and communities by building healthy spirit, mind and body for all.

YMCAs represent one of the largest not-for-profit community service organizations in the United States.

YMCAs are Committed to Helping:
» Children and youth deepen positive values, their commitment to service and their motivation to learn

» Families build stronger bonds, spend time together and become more engaged with their communities

» Individuals strengthen their spiritual, mental and physical well-being

At every stage of life, YMCAs are there to help children, families and individuals reach their full potential.

YMCAs are Open to Everyone
The YMCA is one of the few places in our society where people of different incomes will come together on an equal footing for the good of all. We provide a framework where people in more advantaged circumstances are challenged to help meet the broader needs of the community and to give time and money to help those less fortunate than themselves. Conversely, people with few advantages are pulled into a mainstream organization that helps them escape social isolation.

The YMCA's Founding
The original Young Men's Christian Association started modestly enough - in London in 1844 - as a small group of men concerned with serving fellow young men who, like themselves, were new to the city. Twenty-two-year-old George Williams and eleven friends were compelled to help young men find what they felt: God's grace. The first members were evangelical Protestants who prayed and studied the Bible together.

Years later, Boston sea captain and missionary Thomas Valentine Sullivan also worried about the temptations facing young men in cities. Inspired by the work of the first YMCA, he led the formation of the first U.S. YMCA, in Boston, on December 29, 1851.

Local History
In 1866 George W. Frost, a Union Pacific purchasing agent, led a small group to form the YMCA Association in Omaha. At that time, the population of Omaha was about 7,000. The first YMCA in Omaha was built at a cost of $2,600.

The Impact of the YMCA
One out of three Americans reports being a YMCA member at some point in life, but what's even more remarkable is that the YMCA has touched virtually all Americans in some way. YMCAs invented basketball and volleyball. YMCAs pioneered camping, public libraries, night schools and teaching English as a second language. YMCAs introduced the world's first indoor pool and group swim lessons. YMCAs offered after-school child care long before "latchkey kids" had been given a name. And YMCAs have provided war relief since the Civil War, aiding millions of soldiers at home and abroad.

In addition, YMCAs have provided the right environment for ideas and organizations that might never have started without them. The Boy Scouts of America, Camp Fire Girls, the Negro National Baseball League, the Gideons, Toastmasters, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, and Father's Day all got their start at YMCAs. The YMCA helped found the United Service Organizations (USO), and the Peace Corps was patterned after a YMCA program.

So what is the YMCA's secret? Put simply, it's a powerful combination of autonomy, creativity, practicality, and a solid commitment to improving communities. YMCAs have always been flexible enough to change, to try new things, to be pioneers.

Above all, the YMCA movement is about people - all ages, races, religions and incomes. Forever mission-drive, Ys exist to mold the kind of people who care about each other, who are firm in their own sense of worth and that of others, who try to foster understanding and respect, who take responsibility for their own live and help improve the lives of others.

Today, the nation's YMCAs still provide vital services and serve as a force for hope. As we celebrate this rich history, we look forward to a bright future.