Y Initiatives

People tend to think of the YMCA in the way that they were first exposed to it. Some people think of us as a gym, some people think of us as a child care center, some think of us as a place to play sports. We do offer all of those things, but there is much, much more. Read on to learn about some of the diverse initiatives at your YMCA.

Casa YMCA
Each year more than 500 million people cross the border into the United States, some 330 million of whom are non-citizens, many of them children and youth.  More than a decade ago, YMCAs in Mexico and the United States joined together in a bi-lateral partnership to open shelters along the border  in cities like Tijuana, Juarez, Piedras Negras and Agua Prieta that experience the greatest flow of migrant traffic. 

The YMCA of Southern Arizona works with other Ys in Arizona and New Mexico to sponsor the Casa YMCA in Agua Prieta, Sonora.  Dedicated in 2003, the Casa YMCA is a safe place for youth to stay until they can be reunited with their families in Mexico.  Since its opening more than 1,000 young people have found shelter there. 

Activate Tucson
The YMCA of Southern Arizona is a founding member of Activate Tucson, which is a collaboration between a diverse spectrum of Tucson organizations united by their desire to curb the growing trends of obesity and chronic disease in our community. We have the common goal of making the Greater Tucson area a healthier place to live, work, and play. The mission of Activate Tucson is to activate the Tucson area to achieve healthier lifestyles by providing education, information and motivation.

Activate America
This is an initiative shared with YMCAs throughout the United States aimed at addressing the nation’s growing health crisis by making healthy living a reality for millions of Americans.  The YMCA is engaging people and communities across the country to better support health seekers of all ages who are struggling to achieve and maintain well-being of spirit, mind and body. Through this initiative, YMCA’s are influencing and motivating health seekers to make positive changes in their pursuit of well being and helping to create and sustain healthier communities.

What is a Health Seeker? Health seekers are individuals who want to be active and healthy but continually start and stop the process and, therefore, have been unable to sustain a commitment to healthy living. Health-seekers can be children, adults, seniors, and families searching for ways to succeed in improving their lifestyles.

What does the YMCA offer Health Seekers? Health seekers want to develop relationships with Health and Wellness professionals who will listen to them, support their goals and follow-up with them. At the YMCA of Southern Arizona we offer our 12 week program, state of the art facilities, innovative programming for all ages, qualified experienced staff, strong leadership and philanthropic support. These tools have enabled the YMCA of Southern Arizona to continue to advance its work in helping our community address growing obesity, chronic disease and a health care crisis.

To succeed in overcoming our nation's health crisis, the YMCA of the USA has recognized five critical gaps that must be closed. We are striving to:

1. Move from competing for a market share of the Wellness population to targeting health seeking youth, adults, seniors, and families.
   
   
2. Move from viewing membership as providing access to facilities, programs, equipment, and personal trainers to defining membership in terms of relationships, engagement, support, and involvement.
   
   
3. Move from "canned" programs focused on a single activity or service to a variety of programs, activities, and events developed locally for and with health seekers, fostering small communities of support.
   
   
4. Move from environments primarily designed to support fitness and program activities to those primarily designed to support individuals in their pursuit of well-being.
   
   
5. Move from leadership that is building-centered to leadership that balances internal and external focus on supporting the pursuit of well-being by all.

Diversity
The YMCA of Southern Arizona recognizes and appreciates the intrinsic value of all people within our community.  We are committed to fulfilling our mission through practices of inclusion, and will strive to ensure that the rich gifts of diversity are reflected, respected, and celebrated at all levels. We have formed a Diversity Team and tasked them with making sure that we uphold this standard.

Partners for Healthy Active Children/Compañeros Pare Niños Sanos y Activos
With a generous Carol White Grant, YMCA's citywide, together with the Univerity of Arizona's Department of Nutrition Sciences and Sunnyside School District taught 8,500 children to eat more healthfully and stay active.  Through this program, schools expanded and enhanced existing nutrition and physical education programs.  More importantly, children learned that physical fitness, good nutrition and activities contribute to life-long health. Click here to download a brochure or click here to see the detailed study results.

Assets for Youth
What do young people need to succeed? Research by Minneapolis-based Search Institute has found 40 key factors called "developmental assets" that have a great influence on young people's lives. These developmental assets provide the foundation for the Abundant Assets Alliance, which is a partnership between the YMCA and the Search Institute.  The YMCA of Southern Arizona celebrates this partnership and embeds its concepts in all of our programs.  We also hope to share our successes with other organizations within Southern Arizona. If you'd like to learn more download the Developmental Assets PDF.