A "Y Without Walls"

The Meeting Waters YMCA is one of 2,686 locally created, locally led, independent YMCAs in America today. Among the YMCA movement, Meeting Waters YMCA is fairly unique. We are one of just 100 or so non-facility YMCAs.--a "Y Without Walls"--and we are one of the smallest in terms of budget. Yet, our impact is significant. We do a lot with a little. We pride ourselves in being a high-quality, mission-driven, community-responsive nonprofit, charitable organization.


Vision & Mission

Our vision: We envision communities where people of all ages:

• embody the values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility
• deepen connections with one another, their family and their community
• are strong in spirit, mind and body.

Our mission: Building strong communities by inspiring all to develop healthy spirit, mind and body.

Local History

Beautifully preserved, handwritten notes from 114 years ago tell a powerful story of volunteer initiative. The first entry reads, "The first meeting for the purpose of considering the question of a Young Men's Christian Association for Bellows Falls was held on April 10 (1895)." On September 2, 1895, our Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws were approved by nearly 100 volunteers. The Bellows Falls YMCA had been founded.

Between 1895 and 1915, this local YMCA provided diverse services, such as courses in penmanship, physical activity, such as basketball, Bible Study groups, and community service projects. In 1896, the Bellows Falls YMCA began lending space to the Ladies Auxiliary for gym classes. In the early 1900s, a service fraternity undertook projects at Kurn Hattin School, and the Brattleboro Boy Scout Troop began under its sponsorship.

Thirty years after the Great Depression had forced its demise, the Bellows Falls' Jaycees, under the leadership of Paul Brandon, rekindled the regional YMCA. By 1963, the volunteers offered their first Y-Indian Guides program for fathers and sons. A summer day camp (what is now Lewis Day Camp) soon followed.

Meeting Waters YMCA Today and Tomorrow

Today, the Meeting Waters YMCA serves over 1,000 children, teens, and adults from two dozen New Hampshire and Vermont communities of the Connecticut River Valley. Its programs take place in area schools as well as facilities in Springfield and Bellows Falls.

Thanks to the initiative of volunteer leaders up and down the CT River Valley, the Meeting Waters YMCA's future will see us serve even more people, in more communities, through staff, volunteers, programs and facilities that are of the highest quality.  

The activities of the Meeting Waters YMCA continually evolve with changing needs of the communities they serve.

Read a more detailed account of the Meeting Waters YMCA's history.

Meeting Waters YMCA "By the Numbers", a report of our impact in 2009 is available here.

Our IRS Form 990 for FY09 is available here.