National Council Of Young Mens Christian Assns Of The Usa

Programs: Youth development: nurturing the potential of children and teens. Children from low-income families often start school unprepared. Despite progressing at the same rates as their peers during the school year, gaps widen each summer and these children fall further behind. This is known as the "achievement gap. " the y's achievement gap programs are designed to support the cognitive, physical, and social-emotional development of youth while improving their academic outcomes via early learning readiness, summer learning, and afterschool learning. Through fundraising and dedicated staff support, y-usa has helped 349 y sites in 42 states offer the programs, enabling 21,000 kids to realize who they are and all they can achieve. The transformation is exciting: students in the power scholars academy (tm) summer program, for example, gain an average of one-and-a-half months of math skills and two months of reading skills at a time when they otherwise would lose skills.

social responsibility: giving back and providing support to neighbors. The y responds to pressing social issues nationwide-and worldwide-by activating resources and uniting people from diverse backgrounds for individual and collective action. Through the y's member-led togetherhood program, thousands of volunteers at more than 515 ys in 43 states completed service projects to benefit their communities. To strengthen the capacity of ys to engage, advocate for, and serve all members of our changing communities, particularly those who are most marginalized, y-usa expanded its diversity, innovation, and global network to 76 y associations (serving hundreds of communities including 20 of the 25 most populous u. S. Cities). Globally, y-usa's world service campaign raised more than $1. 6 million and leveraged an additional $1. 7 million in technical and financial assistance to strengthen ymcas, with a focus on developing nations. This support enabled ys in 52 countries to reach hundreds of thousands of more people with life-changing services and help break the cycle of poverty.

healthy living: improving the nation's health and well-being. More than 30 million americans have diabetes-the seventh-leading cause of death in the u. S. -and another 84 million have prediabetes. The ymca's diabetes prevention program is based on a national institutes of health study that showed weight loss of 5% to 7% and 150 minutes of physical activity per week can reduce the number of new cases of type 2 diabetes in adults by 58%, and 71% in adults over age 60. More than 250 y associations in 47 states offer the program at 1,600 locations, and y-usa has secured funding from public sources and private donors to help expand it to 300 associations by 2018. The program has helped 58,000 people to date. By extending health care to community settings, the y improves the health of communities and helps reduce health care costs for individuals, employers, and insurers.