Young Mens Christian Association

Programs: Youth development - after school adventures & camp: parents want a safe place where their kids can develop positive values for life. Our after school adventures program delivers this need during the school year and our camps do so in the summer, providing a year round opportunity to learn and grow. These programs stress the ymca core values and teach kids social skills that are so important in their development. They provide physical activities that burn energy and calories and promote social interaction with their peers. Our camps offer great variety, keeping kids active, interested and invested all summer. Our camps include fishing, horse, teen adventure, preschool, kindergarten, mini day camps, sports camps, skateboarding and resident and leaderhip camp, just to name a few. Canooing, archery, swimming, field trips, science, geography and history are all covered, giving kids a variety of choices and experiences. The after school adventures program also offers great variety as we deliver character development, physical activity and relationship building opportunities. For many of our kids, we provide transportation from school to the ymca. The program keeps kids safe during what could be the most dangerous part of the day, from after school until mom and dad get home. And our financial assistance program allows families to receive the member rate for all of these programs, making them very affordable.

social responsibility - membership: a membership at our ymca is designed to help members achieve the balance in life that helps them achieve a healthy mind, body and spirit. We deliver a safe space where people of all ages, ethnicities and financial backgrounds can feel comfortable as they strive to achieve this balance. We continue to find more areas within our facility that work well for shariing and interaction between members. We provide free coffee and newspapers to promote socialization which strengthens friendships which in turn uplifts the spirit of our members. In recent years we have worked to make more and more programs a free part of their membership. Our ymca provides over 80 free group exercise classes a week. While delivering what is needed for healthy body, these classes also promote relationships among members, furthering the chances of healthy mind and spirit also. Members can also enjoy free racquetball, handball and pickleball, played with other members. Our fully equipped wellness center, y fit gym and free weight room are all available at no additional charge. Our two gyms and pool can also be used without additonal fees. We provide 90 minutes of free child watch at each visit for our members, helping busy couples accomplish what is important to them. And our financial assistance program makes all of this available to everyone, regardless of their financial situation. This past year, over 281 thousand dollars of financial assistance was delivered to those in need. And through everything we do, we stress our core values, making this a place where members can feel welcome, safe and embraced.

healthy living - aquatics: this program allows children and adults regardless of ability levels, to develop a life long skill that keeps them safer around water and delivers an opportunity for fitness and fun. We provide over 5,000 people this opportunity each year. We provide lessons to pre-schoolers, youth and adults. Unstructured pool use in the form of lap swimming and open swim (one of the best ways to build stronger families) are provided year around. In the summer our ymca personnel manages and staffs two municipal pools. During the summer season, we are providing 4 pools to the mankato community where they can exercise, socialize and learn this all important and life saving skill. Our financial assitance program helps make this available to all regardless of their financial situation.

other programs: we are always pursuing ways that we can fill in the gaps where community assets do not cover a community need. Our ymca delivers community based, school based and group based mentoring to area youth. We provide free memberships to cancer survivors and their families while the family member is enrolled in our livestrong cancer program. We recently added the pedaling for parkinson's program for those experiencing that disease. Our exercise is medicine program is offered to adults experiencing at risk chronic health conditions such as hypertension, obesity, depression, and arthritis. We provide several youth socials every year to give kids a fun, safe outlet where they can interact with their friends, or make new ones. We provide several non-school day camps so kids have somewhere to learn and grow when school is out for the day. Birthday parties at our ymca have grown considerably over the past couple years as we provide a fun, affordable experience to celebrate the occasion. Our youth sports programs emphasize fundamentals and character development. We provide a space for other local non-profits to hold their events, including the partners for affordable housing pedaling past poverty event, the united way reading festival and multiple red cross blood drives per year. Where there is a need, if there is a way, we will see what we can do to fill it in the name of building a stronger community.