Mission and delivering our cause: the ymca mission is to put christian principles into practice that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all. The ymca is a diverse organization of men, women and children joined together by a shared commitment to nurturing the potential of kids, promoting healthy living and fostering a sense of social responsibility. For over 125 years the ymca has been serving our community as the largest not for profit organization in our city. The membership of the ymca mirrors the diversity and social -economic structure of our community. It represents the hopes and dreams of our constituents and our programs are designed in direct response to the challenges and collective needs that our community faces. The ymca's emphasis is on youth development, healthy living and social responsibility: everything the ymca does is designed to nurture the potential of children and teens (youth development), improve health and well-being (healthy living) and motivate people to

Children & Youth , Human Services , Recreation & Sports , Sports , Young Mens or Womens Associations , Youth Development

Healthy living: improving the nation's health and well-being. In communities across the nation, the y is a leading voice on health and well-being. With a mission centered on balance, the y brings families closer together, encourages good health and fosters connections through fitness, sports, fun and shared interests. As a result, millions of youth, adults and families are receiving the support, guidance and resources needed to achieve greater health and well-being for their spirit, mind and body. The ymca makes available to the community a wide range of fitness and health wellness programs. These include exercise programs targeted for all age groups, arthritis programs, and cardiac rehabilitation programs. Specifically designed to address the nation's obesity crisis are the ymca's healthy living and obesity prevention activities. The ymca partners very closely with our local health departments, blanchard valley hospital, schools, university of findlay and the medical community in the delivery of these services. youth development: nurturing the potential of every child and teen. The ymca believes that all kids deserve the opportunity to discover who they are and what they can achieve. That's why, through the y, millions of youth today are taking a greater interest in learning; making smarter life choices; and cultivating the values, skills and relationships that lead to positive behaviors, the pursuit of higher education and goal achievement. State licensed childcare: the ymca operates the largest childcare center in hancock county, (mary brenner child development center), serving 240 families and providing care for up to 254 children every day. Twenty percent of our children come from families that live at or below the poverty level. The ymca provides hundreds of youth development programs to our community each year including a full range of health/wellness programs, sports programs, youth leadership development programs and personal safety programs (swim lessons) designed to keep our children and our community healthy and safe. Ymca summer day camps: summer day camping experiences served to engage 1,592 youth in a healthy and challenging outdoor experience on a daily basis throughout the summer months. In addition to the physically and mentally challenging experience that camp provides for our youth, it also provides for parents an alternative to traditional childcare services that's particularly attractive to older youth. In addition to being one of the ymca's most attractive youth development initiatives, it also overlaps with the ymca's other core program of social responsibility, in that it allows working parents to continue to be employed throughout the summer months while their children are being provided for in a healthy and wholesome ymca atmosphere. social responsibility: giving back and providing support to our neighbors. Across the country, the ymca helps people give back and assist their neighbors by offering opportunities to volunteer, advocate and support programs that strengthen community. The ymca takes on a much broader role as a community leader when it steps outside the role of serving just its members and program participants and takes on projects that bring benefit to the community at large. Examples of such social responsibility come with the ymca's operating the riverside community swimming pool and the feeding of hungry children in our schools through the ymca feed a child program. In 2017 the ymca continued its partnership with the city of findlay for the eighth year by managing the riverside city pool so that it remained open to our city's residents. This season over 18,800 swimmers attended the city pool during the summer. In 2014 the y took over leadership of teen engage program with 15 youth ages 13-20 participating in collaboration and support of the community foundation. During the school year of 2016-2017, the ymca continued to administer the feed a child program. With the financial