The Community YMCA strives to be a community cornerstone where individuals find a place to belong, and meet their health and social needs. It is the place where youth go to learn new skills, socialize with their peers and participate in recreational activities. More than just a building, it is the centre of the North End community.

The Community Y is considered a “safe haven” in an area that has often been characterized by high crime.

In the past year we have been fortunate to renovate parts of the building and realign resources to bring the Employment Programs back into the building. This has added more services to the community and brings in regular revenue (rent) to allow us to provide more services to the youth. Within these renovations we created a wonderful Youth Centre, Program Room and Community Kitchen, all with new furniture, new flooring, bright and colorful paint, to encourage participation in a very youth focused environment.

Our organizational goals are being developed around a strategy of growing the positive impact and influence of the Community YMCA in enhancing the quality of life in the community it serves. The Community YMCA continues to:

  • Build on current capacity through working mutually and interdependently with other areas of service within the YMCA of Greater Halifax/Dartmouth
  • Be recognized as a leader in the development and delivery of comprehensive community services and programs
  • Focus on youth as our first priority and work to build on the existing capacity that these young people already demonstrate
  • Expand the number of opportunities for preventative health and wellness activities for people of all ages and abilities and economic circumstance
  • Work proactively and in collaboration with like-minded organizations in the areas around the topics of crime prevention, anti bullying and individual community responsiveness
  • Partner with other organizations to strengthen and stabilize the services for the community

Serving families is also a focus of the Community YMCA. Issues such as employment and access to child care have a disproportionate effect on families and we believe the Community YMCA’s role is to offer a safe place for families seeking health, recreation services and educational programs. We provide services to more than 200 families, most of who are low income or single parent families. Programs and activities are constantly re-evaluated and revised to fit the changing needs of our community. With the move of our employment services to the Community Y building we are able to provide on-site employment readiness programs, employment counseling and pre employment skills to the youth as part of building their capacity.

Staff, volunteers and participants at the Community YMCA consider their “home” to be a recreational, social and educational place dedicated to the multicultural community it serves. The YMCA is committed to fostering multiple opportunities in an environment that promotes creativity, individualism, pride and self-fulfillment through diverse, quality programming