Mission

Mission:

The YMCA is the largest social service agency in the United States with over 2400 local branches. We serve over 18 million Americans annually, helping them to grow to their full potential: spirit, mind and body.

The YMCA of Greater Saint Paul is a YMCA association with nine membership branches, four community branches, four overnight camps, a variety of day camps, and nearly three dozen child care centers.

Organization: Each YMCA is a charitable nonprofit, qualifying under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Tax Code. Each is independent. YMCAs are required by the national constitution to pay annual dues, to refrain from discrimination and to support the YMCA mission. All other decisions are local choices, including programs offered, staffing and style of operation.

The national office, called the YMCA of the USA, is in Chicago, with Field offices in California, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota and Texas. It is staffed by 241 employees. Its purpose is to serve member associations.

International: YMCAs are at work in more than 120 countries around the world, serving more than 30 million people. Some 230 local US Ys maintain more than 370 relationships with Ys in other countries, operate international programs and contribute to YMCA work worldwide through the YMCA World Service campaign. Like other national YMCA movements, the YMCA of the USA is a member of the World Alliance of YMCAs, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

History: The YMCA was founded in London, England, in 1844 by George Williams and about a dozen friends who lived and worked as clerks in a drapery a forerunner of dry-goods and department stores. Their goal was to help young men like themselves find God. The first members were evangelical Protestants who prayed and studied the Bible as an alternative to vice. The Y movement has always been nonsectarian and today accepts those of all faiths at all levels of the organization, despite its unchanging name, the Young Men's Christian Association.

The first U.S. YMCA started in Boston in 1851, the work of Thomas Sullivan, a retired sea captain who was a lay missionary. Ys spread fast and soon were serving boys and older men as well as young men. Although 5,145 women worked in YMCA military canteens in World War I, it wasn't until after World War II that women and girls were admitted to full membership and participation in the US YMCAs. Today half of all YMCA members and program members are female, and half are under age 18.

The YMCA stresses four core values in all of our programs and activities: caring, respect, honesty and responsibility.

Programs

The YMCA of Greater Saint Paul offers a wide range of programs and activities to help people of all ages.

We have health & fitness centers, aerobics classes, aquatics, swim lessons, youth sports, senior activities, youth development programs, child care, overnight camps, day camps, wheel parks, teen centers, and much more.