The Y's Global Relations and Community Engagement (GRACE) efforts help ensure all people are respected, feel welcome and can find a community where they can thrive.
With 24 branches in the City of St. Louis and 13 counties in Missouri and Illinois, the Gateway Region YMCA is positioned to address the unique needs of the bi-state region. A key priority of this work is promoting a welcoming organizational culture that fosters community engagement and bridge-building. Our core values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility guide everything we do.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
We believe the Y must continue to lead the way to a brighter future by following our belief that we are stronger when our doors are open to all.
Open For All
We help ensure all people feel welcome and valued as part of the Y family.
Changing Communities
As neighborhoods become more diverse, it is important that we, with great intentionality, understand who is in our communities and how best to serve their interests and needs.
Strengthen Community
It's critical to both our mission and our business that Y's develop and integrate strategies to effectively engage, advocate and serve all.
Gateway Region YMCA World Service
In addition, our Y is part of the international YMCA network - an alliance of Ys dedicated to strengthening our global community of 46 million members in 120 countries. Our Y works in partnership with YMCAs in Belize, Colombia, Ukraine and South Africa. These partnerships involve working jointly on sharing ideas around youth development, promoting peace, and implementing teen exchange programs to promote global awareness.
Learn More About Our International Partners
YMCA Ukraine
The YMCA was established in Ukraine in 1902. After being banned from 1917 to 1991 when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, the YMCA was reorganized and restarted in 1993.
There are 25 local Ys around the country reaching tens of thousands of youth and young adults each year through programs focused on sports, camping, psychosocial counseling, performing arts, HIV prevention, international exchanges and civic engagement.
Ukrainian YMCAs in Lviv Rivne, Lutsk, Karpaty, and Ternopil in the west and Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv in the east are providing emergency support to the local community and the thousands of internally displaced people arriving from conflict impacted communities. This includes food, shelter, and overall support for youth, families, and the elderly. Learn more about YMCA Ukraine's response.
YMCA Belize
Established in 1987 and incorporated April 7, 1995, the YMCA Belize has been a local partner in the global, community-led YMCA movement to build healthy families and communities. YMCA Belize sesrves the children and families of some of Belize City's lowest socioeconomic communities, who are faced with disproportionate obstacles and challenges.
Belize is a very young and independent country (1981) who is still struggling to meet the needs of its people. The community has needs of education, sports and training which is primarily what the YMCA of Belize provides in its limited capacity and scarce resources.
YMCA South Africa
In 2006, a collaboration of U.S. YMCAs was formed to provide support to the South Africa YMCA to strengthen its leadership, governance, programs, communications and financial sustainability.
Today, the YMCA South Africa serves urban youth through after school programs that focus on improving academic performance. Provides youth with education programs in the arts, economics, entrepreneurship, juvenile justice, science, math and technology. Organizes street soccer programs to provide safe spaces for youth to play away from neighborhood gangs, prostitution and violence.
YMCA Colombia
The YMCAs in Colombia serve the most vulnerable populations reaching over 30,000 people annually. Priority is placed on youth programs that promote peace and solidarity, psychosocial and educational support for victims of violence, poverty reduction and forced displacement.
YMCA Colombia was founded in 1964 in Bogotá with a mission to help children and youth (particularly those who were homeless) who lived in highly vulnerable situations. YMCA Colombia’s focus has been on teaching its children and youth how to be leaders with transferrable skills so that they can help empower future generations.
Today, the YMCA engages young people in underserved communities through:
- service-learning projects and leadership development opportunities.
- empowering vulnerable teens and young adults to start their own businesses through financial literacy education and entrepreneurship programs.
- providing safe spaces for education, counseling and recreation to children and women who have been sexually exploited.
How can you support our efforts?
Our Y gives local teens the chance to travel to a region served by an International Partner for youth exchange, service learning and cross-cultural education. Donations may help offset the cost for a local teen to experience these life-changing opportunities.
In July 2025, 8 St. Louis teens will participate in a teen trip to Porto Alegre, Brazil to participate in cultural exploration activities coordinated and directed by YMCA staff and volunteers. Teens will participate in a Leadership Retreat at camp Acampamento Rincão do Coelho. Teens will also play sports with other Brazilian teens in an Olympics style Jogos Acemistas Brasileiros (JABs), which may include basketball, swimming, volleyball, european handball, and futsal.
Support this upcoming Teen Trip here.
The YMCA World Service Campaign raises critical resources to enable our international partners to accomplish their work in their local communities. Your donations are put to use by YMCA staff and volunteers who are trusted leaders with a deep understanding of community needs and the relationships to produce impactful, sustainable change. 100% of your donation to YMCA World Service goes directly to creating opportunities for young people served by our international partners.