About Us

When the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad requested a right-of-way into the Old Pueblo in 1914, the city fathers agreed on the condition that the railroad build the city a YMCA. The railroad accepted the deal, a move that has served Tucson well ever since. From the original site at the corner of Congress and Court, the YMCA of Southern Arizona began developing healthful and wholesome programs for young men.

During the ensuing years, the YMCA has continued to grow with Tucson. Today, there are five neighborhood YMCAs and a 400 acre camp in Oracle, Arizona.

The YMCA is a worldwide organization that is active in 120 countries, but each YMCA association is a separate and independent 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. Originally founded as the "Young Men's Christian Association," today half of all YMCA members are female and half are under the age of 18. The modern YMCA's mission is based on ethical principles shared by all faiths, and welcomes everyone regardless of age, income, religion, ethnicity or gender.

Arizona is served by three YMCA associations; the YMCA of Southern Arizona, the Valley of the Sun YMCA (Phoenix) and the Prescott YMCA.

The YMCA of Southern Arizona is dedicated to improving the quality of human life and to helping all people realize their fullest potential through the development of Spirit, Mind and Body. Our vision is to build strong kids, strong families and strong communities. We do this by implementing the character development values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility in our policies, programs and collaborative partnerships. Our YMCA is governed by committed and active volunteers and managed by trained, competent and professional staff. We demonstrate our commitment to diversity through our volunteer leadership, program participation and staffing.

The YMCA of Southern Arizona has over 50,000 facilty and program members. We offer a variety of programs and services, including Child Care (we are the largest licensed child care provider in Tucson), Health & Well-being, Aquatics, Sports (for youth and adults) and Teen Leadership. The goal of our programs is to develop leadership skills in youth and adults, support the needs of families, encourage healthy lifestyles and contribute to the greater good by collaborating with other community groups. We fund these programs through charitable contributions and reasonable membership and program fees.

YMCA in the News

Dane Woll, our President and CEO, has written an article for Inside Tucson Business about the recent Accenture Match Play Championship and its impact on the Tucson community entitled Golf tourney's real winners: Tucson kids.

Dane also wrote another article for Inside Tucson Business entitled YMCA wants your New Year's resolution to succeed. If your resolution isn't going as well as you thought it would on January 1st, now might be a good time to revisit these tips for meeting your goals.

The Arizona Daily Star interviewed Mandy Baerman and Eric Mase of the Lohse YMCA about ways to get in a good workout when the weather makes it difficult to go outside.