Three Associations. One Mission.

December 16, 2022

The Y Women’s Emergency Shelter provides safe refuge and support for women and children. This is carried out through 24/7 phone support, referrals to community resources, and more. All services are offered free of charge, ensuring all women and children who require safe shelter and need to be critical support are able to access these resources and soon as possible.

“I cannot even imagine what would have happened to me if I didn't have the shelter to come to. There is no way I would be doing what I'm doing and be the mom that I am if it wasn't for all of the ladies there helping me and supporting me through the darkest, most difficult time of my life.” –Nicole, former Y Women’s Emergency Shelter resident

This holiday season, the Y Women’s Shelter is expecting to support 19 families with a possibility that numbers will increase over the coming weeks. Check out the images below to see some of the spaces at the Y Women’s Shelter and a sneak peek of the beautiful and festive holiday decorations.

November 10, 2022

The statement “Strong Now. Even Stronger Together.” is much more than a tagline. It reflects the many strengths our respective associations have and reminds us of the wonderful things we can achieve together when we share our talents and experiences.

Although we will not officially become YMCA BC until January 3rd, there is no shortage of examples where our YMCAs have started to collaborate and benefit from the experiences, talents, ideas, and skills of the larger team. From HR to Finance to Information Systems to Marketing and Communications, it has been wonderful to see our YMCAs coming together to do very important and impactful work—all with the goal of serving and supporting our larger staff team and the communities we serve in Kamloops, Northern BC and Greater Vancouver. Fund Development is another department that has demonstrated how collaboration across teams can benefit multiple communities. Below are two ways in which the YGV Fund Development team has worked with and supported colleagues in Northern BC to secure major gifts that will help our Ys continue to provide our members and youth with happy, healthy experiences.  

• A major gift secured with KalTire's "Kal's RePlay Fund" will go towards new flooring at the Prince George Family Y. The new flooring will be made entirely of recycled tires and will be enjoyed by members for many years to come.

• A Ted Rogers Community Grant was secured to support YGV’s Alternative Suspension program and go towards enhancements to Northern BC’s Foundry programming. 

Congratulations to those who played a role securing these major gifts and to everyone across all three associations for demonstrating in your own ways, how we are indeed stronger together!

August 4, 2022

We're one month into YMCA camp season and it is shaping up to be another memorable summer for all our participants and staff. We currently have a whopping 6,500 children ages 5-17 currently signed up for our day and overnight camp programs, and we know that number will keep growing in the coming weeks—talk about making a lasting impact in the lives of children across our province! A huge shoutout and many high-fives go out to all our dedicated, enthusiastic and wonderful camp staff working at our 26 program locations throughout our three associations.

May 19, 2022

Together, our three associations have a total of 98 child care centres across Kamloops, Greater Vancouver and Northern British Columbia and serve over 3,600 children! That’s right, over 3,600 children are learning, growing and thriving thanks to our amazing child care staff members. Across all three associations we have over 750 Early Years, School Age, and Child Care Admin staff that make serving and supporting all of these children possible.

Let’s take the time to thank and appreciate our incredibly dedicated Child Care staff today, and every day for their passion and commitment to helping our youth thrive.

April 21, 2022

So what’s our big number of communities we currently serve across our three associations? Fifty! That’s right, 5-0!! Of course we’re still learning together. With virtual services during the pandemic, and the constant evolution of our YMCAs to meet the needs of individual communities, this list may not be fully complete. If you think we’ve missed anything, please let us know at unification@bc.ymca.ca.

Read below to see the list of cities.

March 9, 2022