Desired Outcomes

The YMCA seeks to develop strong kids, strong families, and strong communities. Individuals and families that are involved in YMCA programs will:

• Strengthen and enrich their family life. The family is society's primary unit for raising children, caring for elders, and maintaining societal values. The YMCA supports people of all kinds in their efforts to be responsible parents who are concerned with the physical, mental, and spiritual health of their children. The YMCA supplies a safe, wholesome environment in which parents and children can learn to communicate effectively, cooperate, and care about each other.
  
  
• Build self-esteem and nurture personal growth. Without these qualities, one can't treat oneself or others with respect. In tough situations and times of trouble, self-esteem helps individuals make the right choices, and act out of strength instead of weakness. Appreciating ones own worth can make the difference between dependency and self-reliance, failure and success.
  
  
• Appreciate the world around us all. The YMCA reveres God's world and takes action to care for it. The YMCA offers environmental education, because it believes that if we learn the facts, respect for nature will follow. With appreciation comes responsibility and protection of our planet's precious resources.
  
  
• Develop leadership and strengthen communities. The YMCA believes everyone needs a place to belong, a place where we genuinely care about one another; where we pull together for a common cause, where we treat each other with loving kindness, open communication, and support, and where we share in decisions.
  
  
• Volunteering as a demonstration of reaching out and caring for others. You will find it at the heart of the YMCA. The YMCA offers people a chance to get involved in community life by running programs, making policies, raising money, and solving neighborhood problems. Volunteering is about people helping others - while taking responsibility for themselves.
  
  
• Encourage healthy lifestyles which means healthy development of the spirit, mind, and body. Using and understanding our body is essential to good physical and mental health. Such awareness promotes lifestyles that help us resist illness, addictions, and disease. Through community based exercise, sports, and education programs, the YMCA promotes good health for people of all ages, abilities, and incomes. Good health lets us enjoy all the goodness of life.
  
  
• Adopt and exemplify the YMCA Character Development values. Exhibit in everyday life and relationships the values of Caring, Honesty, Respect, and Responsibility.