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A Little History
The YMCA was founded in London, England, in 1844, by
George Williams and a dozen friends. Their goal was to help
provide young men with an alternative to the "wicked streets"
and to find God through in-depth Bible study.
The first members were Evangelical
Protestants who prayed and studied the Bible
as an alternative to vice. The YMCA has
evolved over the years into a private nonprofit
organization that works for the public interest.
The YMCA has developed into a broad
service organization that exists for the good of
the community in which it is located. The
"Y" movement has always been nonsectarian
and today accepts all faiths at all levels of
organization despite its unchanging name:
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION
The YMCA of Staunton was founded on
November 17, 1874. A constitution was
adopted and 61 men paid the $1.50
membership fee to join. The first home
of the Staunton YMCA was a set of
rented rooms over Kyle's Meat Market
on Augusta Street. These rooms were
used as a meeting room and a reading
room. Until November 11, 1875, the library was strictly a
membership affair, but on that date, restrictions were relaxed to
allow any male to use the library upon payment of $1.00 per year.
No books were to be taken from the premises. In January 1877,
women were permitted to visit the library.
In the intervening years, the YMCA has had various locations.
Its first building was at the corner of West Beverly Street and
Central Avenue. The building was erected for $21,500 and
occupied in November 1889. The YMCA leased the tower of the
building to the City of Staunton on a permanent basis for $1000,
for the placing of a large clock therein. The clock is a Staunton
landmark today.
With the purchase of land in 1913 at
the southeast corner of Augusta and
Frederick Streets, plans were made
to erect a new building. Mrs. Cyrus
McCormick, wife of the inventor of
the reaper and longtime resident of
Augusta County gave a gift of
$50,000 towards the new building
providing the citizens of Staunton would match it. This building,
from the excavation of the basement for the swimming pool to
the progress of the bricklayers, became the pride of the
community.
In more recent years, the YMCA built (1977) and occupied the
building on Tams Street that now houses the Mary Baldwin
College Physical Activities Center. This building was sold to
MCA in 1987 and the Y became a "store-front" operation,
serving children of the community with various programs.
Although initially we experienced some success with the
storefront operation, increasing difficulties in obtaining space for
programs, rapidly rising rents for available facilities and a growing realization that we were not meeting the goals of our stated mission led the Y board to the decision that we needed a
facility.
After considering many options, the YMCA took
over the operation of the Staunton Athletic Club and
the Staunton Racquet Club and Fitness Center in
June 1995. In December 1996, the YMCA
consolidated both operations to one location, which
now exists at 708 North Coalter Street and has
become a thriving family center.
The kids and adults who participate in the Staunton-Augusta YMCA programs and the building with its locker rooms, tennis
courts, pool and exercise equipment are part of an international movement that is more than 150 years old. Today's YMCA exists
in 92 countries and serves more than 14.5 million people in 2,000
locations in the United States alone. The YMCA's scope and its
mission are much wider than people think.
Broadly speaking, the YMCA's mission is to promote the health
of the spirit, the mind, and the body for all. That mission is inclusive. It does not emphasize any particular program, age group or economic class. The Y deliberately remains flexible so
it can offer programs that are in each community's best interest
and serves to help families grow closer and help people lead healthier lives.
The YMCA is a decentralized movement -- purposely so. The national headquarters in Chicago, called the YMCA of the USA,
exists solely to help local Y's serve their members and communities better. It acts as a resource center and does not dictate policy. Instead, each Y is run by a board of hometown volunteers that work to make sure the local Y meets their community's needs. This means that no two Y's are exactly alike
-- because no two communities have exactly the same needs.
When our current location became a YMCA in 1996, it became
more than just a place where adults work-out or where kids learn
to swim. And so, we are now concentrating on telling our story.
What makes us different? The building the Y acquired and the programs carried out within it are only tools in which to carry out
our mission, "to promote the health of spirit, mind and body for
all."
We are an organization that provides financial assistance to individuals and families who can not afford the fees. We are an
organization that reaches kids, who would otherwise be at home
alone during the summer months, through our summer day camp
program. We are an organization who takes programs to the areas
where families have difficulty with transportation. We are an organization that trains staff to go the extra mile and challenges
members and staff to accept core values like honesty, respect, responsibility and caring and to demonstrate those values in our
daily lives. This is what makes us different - the YMCA's strength is in the people it brings together to build strong kids, stronger families and stronger communities.
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