Official Twitter account for the YMCA of the North. The Y is for youth development, healthy living & social responsibility. The YMCA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit social services organization dedicated to Youth Development, Healthy Living, and Social Responsibility. In 1866 local clergy and businessmen organized the Minneapolis YMCA. Their vision was to meet the practical needs of people facing a rapidly changing community. The Y's innovative youth programs, camping, and membership activities have kept that vision clear and relevant. Caring, honesty, respect and responsibility are the foundation values of every YMCA program and activity. We welcome all who wish to participate, and annually raise funds through our Y Partners campaign to help make that possible. No one is ever turned away from YMCA membership or programs due to financial need. YMCAs are for people of all faiths, races, abilities, incomes, and backgrounds. Each YMCA is a charitable nonprofit, qualifying under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Tax Code. Each is independent. YMCAs are required by the national constitution to pay annual dues, to refrain from discrimination and to support the YMCA mission. All other decisions are local choices, including programs offered, staffing and style of operation. The national office, called the YMCA of the USA, is located in Chicago. YMCAs are at work in more than 120 countries around the world, serving more than 30 million people. Some 230 local US Ys maintain more than 370 relationships with Ys in other countries, operate international programs and contribute to YMCA work worldwide through the YMCA World Service campaign. Like other national YMCA movements, the YMCA of the USA is a member of the World Alliance of YMCAs, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. History: The YMCA was founded in London, England, in 1844 by George Williams and about a dozen friends who lived and worked as clerks in a drapery, a forerunner of dry-goods and department stores. Their goal was to help young men like themselves find God. The first members were evangelical Protestants who prayed and studied the Bible as an alternative to vice. The Y movement has always been nonsectarian and today accepts those of all faiths at all levels of the organization, despite its unchanging name, the Young Men's Christian Association. The first U.S. YMCA started in Boston in 1851, the work of Thomas Sullivan, a retired sea captain who was a lay missionary. Ys spread fast and soon were serving boys and older men as well as young men. Although 5,145 women worked in YMCA military canteens in World War I, it wasn't until after World War II that women and girls were admitted to full membership and participation in the US YMCAs. Today half of all YMCA members and program members are female, and half are under age 18.