The Young Men's Christian Association was founded in London, England, on June 6, 1844, in response to unhealthy social conditions arising in the big cities at the end of the Industrial Revolution (roughly 1750 to 1850). Growth of the railroads and centralization of commerce and industry brought many rural young men who needed jobs into cities like London. They worked 10 to 12 hours a day, six days a week.

Far from home and family, these young men often lived at the workplace. They slept crowded into rooms over the company's shop, a location thought to be safer than London's tenements and streets. Outside the shop things were bad -- open sewers, pickpockets, thugs, beggars, drunks, lovers for hire and abandoned children Since we were established through a grass roots community effort in 1994, the Siskiyou Family YMCA has assumed the role of the main sports, recreation and child care provider in Siskiyou County. It is the affordable alternative for children, teens, adults and seniors to participate in healthy activities. In the early 1990's the community raised over $900,000 to convert the "Old Coca Cola warehouse" into the YMCA facility, and to provide start-up funding for the organization.
PLACEHOLDER

Today, over 1,600 community members actively participate in YMCA programs and activities on a regular basis, and last year the YMCA logged in over 58,250 visits to the YMCA facility and over 950 participants in YMCA programs. The YMCA does not discriminate on any basis and through our annual scholarship campaign we insure that no one is turned away from membership, programs or activities because they are unable to pay. running wild by the thousands.