Inclusion Statement

For more than 170 years, the YMCA has been on a journey to help build a more inclusive society that is truly for all. With community demographics rapidly changing, opportunity gaps and social divides widening, our communities need the Y to be a leader in driving social progress/change. For us to reach our full potential as a leader in advancing equity for all, every YMCA—no matter its size, budget, location, or constituencies—must play a role.

As we see community members coming together across our state and country calling for equity and justice, we ask you to join us in working toward individual, organizational and societal change. We ask you to become part of our global effort to end racism and speak up against prejudices towards a persons’ ethnicity, gender identity, national origin, faith, age, income level, sexual orientation, immigration status or other protected status. We can begin this work by educating ourselves on true historical facts, structural biases and other factors of diversity.

At the YMCA, we believe in our core values of Caring, Honesty, Respect and Responsibility and we work daily to foster these values in everyone we serve. We pledge to do more.

We pledge to prioritize:

1.   Support for YMCA staff of color, and those who wish to create safe spaces for dialogue, healing and action towards racial equity within our YMCA and communities we serve.

2.   Strong partnerships between the YMCA and Rock County businesses, government agencies, school districts and non-profit organizations to strengthen our policies, practices, programs and other efforts to help eliminate the racism that plagues not only our community, but our nation.

3.   To be a place for all – of races, ethnicities, genders, national origins, faiths, age income levels, sexual orientations or immigration status.

4.   Transparency in reporting outcomes of these efforts

At the YMCA of Northern Rock County, we hear you and are here for you.