YMCA OF THE ROSES

Youth development: at the ymca of the roses, we are committed to engaging youth in year-round asset-building activities resulting in productive members of society, who have life-long relationships with the ymca. Our youth programs reduce risky behaviors, promote a sense of belonging, and provide a safe environment where kids learn leadership skills and character. We believe that, by developing critical skills and character in youth, we are helping them to grow up to become healthy, caring, and prosperous adults. Ymca youth sports programs provide youth with positive activities and caring adult attention. Youth sports are offered at our five branches and include but are not limited to: basketball, soccer, t-ball, baseball, softball, softball, softball, flag football, tae-kwon do, and girls' club volleyball. These sports programs foster positive competition, teamwork, and family involvement. Specialty sports camps are offered for more specialized and higher-level instruction in baseball, basketball, fencing, soccer, softball, and volleyball.our y achievers and temple guard programs help socio-economically disadvantaged youth develop a positive sense of self and sets high education and career goals. During the out-of-school supplemental education program, mentors expose participants to various careers, assist with sat/act test preparation, and impart positive and appropriate behaviors for youth and teens to model. Students also go on college tours, preparing them for post-secondary education. Participants also remain active and build discipline in temple guard, our military-style drum and step team that performs throughout the community at high-profile events.the ymca is committed to offering educational programs intended to address academic and gender gaps experienced by disadvantaged youth. The ymca's achievement gap initiative targets the root issues of educational inequality through the summer learning loss prevention program (sllp), a six-week, full-day program for low-income children. The sllp program supports disadvantaged children's literacy and academic progress to mitigate summer learning loss.we offer a high-quality summer day camp program that provides a safe, values-driven environment to keep youth engaged, active, and learning throughout the summer. We provide children ages five to fifteen with summer adventures that promote a healthy spirit, mind, and body. Children spend time indoors and outdoors as experienced staff leads campers in various daily activities, including arts & crafts, games, sports & fitness activities, instructional & recreational swimming, and weekly off-site field trips. Our day camp allows youth to have fun and make new friends while participating in character-building, skill development, and healthy living activities.in the current year, the ymca promoted youth development to approximately 2,000 youth and provided direct financial assistance of $66,887.57

Social responsibility: our focus on social responsibility has led to extensive work in community stabilization, which has further led to substantial community development. We do so through substance abuse counseling services, a homeless men's residence, emergency shelter rooms, housing counseling programs, and access to affordable housing units owned by related entities.the ymca offers relief programs designed to provide emergency support services. The at-risk after school meal and summer food service program joins in the nationwide fight against child hunger by serving lunch and dinner to any child in need. The ymca's mobile feeding bus is part of our year-round effort to address child hunger by providing nutritious food and activities to keep kids' minds and bodies active. In 2024, the ymca's year-round food program provided nearly 50,000 meals and snacks to local students. The southern community services (scs) program provides essential social and support services to low and moderate-income residents of southern york county facing food and housing insecurity. The services provided range from case management and utility assistance to a daily food pantry and more. During the fiscal year 2024, southern community services served nearly 3,000 members of the community.the ymca's new american welcome center (nawc) is designed to help immigrantsalso referred to as newcomersfully integrate into american society and prepare to receive communities to be welcoming and inclusive. In 2024, the new american welcome center recorded 5,922 total in-person client visits for assistance with referral services, work-authorization forms, and other immigrations applications. Additionally, nawc provided 437 hours of esl classes to non-english speaking residents. We have begun to build a better foundation within our community by reaching out to people and inviting them to interact and build relationships with the ymca beyond the traditional membership arrangement. The nawc is supported by community partners including wellspan health and united way of york county.we also expanded our community work in lancaster county. We continue offering safety around water programming which equips young learners with life-saving swimming and water-safety lessons to avoid drowning and other water-related incidents. Participants in this program often graduate into our traditional swim lessons, with financial assistance making them available for all. Our y achievers program is giving youth in lancaster city opportunities to prepare for college or their careers, while our temple guard drill team is making sure they stay active in the community and connected with positive influences.most notably, in december of 2024, the ymca of the roses began operating the clay street shelter in lancaster city, a low-barrier emergency shelter which provides refuge to over 85 men and women a night. In addition to emergency shelter services, clay street provides clients with on-site showers and case management services. The ymca of the roses collaborates with many other community-based organizations including other non-profits, local ministries, and schools to serve our members and program participants. Our city center ymca in downtown lancaster collaborates with the office of aging to offer services for older adults, including wellness activities and educational sessions. The lampeter-strasburg ymca partners with local school districts to deliver youth programs and host special events, such as its free healthy kids day youth and family festival. Numerous other nonprofits and government entities, including lifepath christian ministries, city of york, the york county coalition on homelessness, and the redevelopment authority of lancaster, work with the ymca to offer housing, direct assistance, community development, and educational programming to local residents.