• Our Mission
• Our Vision
• Our Values
• Our History
• Our Impact

Our Vision

YMCA Vision—
Building Strong Kids,
 Families & Communities 

The YMCA is the leader in improving the quality of life and nurturing lifelong development of healthier individuals, families and community.

Healthy Lifestyles
The YMCA will be the leader in wellness and improving the health of our community by:

• designing and implementing healthy lifestyle programs and services that are age appropriate and that progress from age group to age group
• engaging more members in our community through wellness programs and services that create healthy lifestyles
• providing leadership in combating childhood obesity through engaging community partners in developing and modifying programs, and developing lifelong learning experiences

Cultivating Our Future
The YMCA will prepare teens for the role they play in creating strong communities for tomorrow by:

• establishing a Youth Development Center that offers a core curriculum in life skills
• providing programs that encourage teens to gain new social, physical or spiritual experiences through our Christian & Community Outreach department
• engaging teens through partnerships with the City of Norwalk’s Summer Youth Employment program and other highly-regarded mentoring programs in collaboration with other local programs.

Strengthening Our Families
The YMCA will be the leader in programs and activities that strengthen families by:

• providing opportunities in all programs for the entire family, encourage interaction with other families
• providing community leadership in programs and activities for fathers/sons or father/daughter mentoring and additional programming on fatherhood in line with the National Fatherhood Initiative
• continuing our emphasis on Friday Family Fun nights and events designed to attract family interest

Deepening Member Relations
The YMCA will develop relationships with members that strengthen their commitment to our mission by:

• increasing its membership retention rate
• increasing member involvement in the Annual Campaign to 15%
• motivating 50% of our members to participate in multiple activities on an annual basis
• having YMCA staff spend a higher percentage of their work day connecting with members

Providing Leadership for Our Future
The YMCA will advance our mission by providing the necessary resources through the leadership of volunteers and staff by:

• recruiting, training and retaining volunteers and staff leadership that will allow us to successfully meet our Vision  Goals and Objectives
• board members engaging in a higher level of commitment through active participation
• volunteers and staff proactively advocating the work of the YMCA for the benefit of our community

Partnering with the Community
The YMCA will be the leader in creating strategic partnerships that address critical community needs by:

• including a minimum of one community partner in all future YMCA program and facility development
• having all YMCA director level staff engaging in at least one, non-YMCA community (service, business, or civic) organization
• promoting a “inclusive, not exclusive” approach and listening for the community needs so that an appropriate program services can be mapped to address them.