Analysis Of The YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association)

The YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) is a community-based non-profit organization that offers variety to its customers that other gyms may not. The YMCA is known heavily worldwide considering due to the fact that there are many branches located around the world. Since I am located in the Harrisburg area, I chose to find the closest YMCA around the area, and find out more about this organization. There are about three YMCA branches located around the Harrisburg area for residents to assist. The East Shore Branch YMCA is a branch of an organization that focuses on youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility, according to the unique needs of the communities it engages (YMCA, 2016). In view of the fact that, I chose to

Some examples of locality-based communities are neighborhoods, city blocks, small towns, cities, and rural regions. With the East Shore branch being located in downtown Harrisburg, which is classified as a city, many of its programs or activities that take place are influenced by the community and its needs. The community of downtown Harrisburg gets involved locally by participating in events hosted by the YMCA. From my interview, I was informed that many events such as the Harrisburg marathons that take place are organized by the branches of the YMCA located around Harrisburg (Appendix

Since the YMCA stands for Young Men’s Christian Association, in order for groups who aren’t Christian, many people will call this organization the Y. Anyone who is a member of the YMCA knows the symbol the YMCA portrays which is just the Y. Many accessories are available for anyone to buy which includes either the abbreviation or just the letter Y on them. Those who purchase anything from this organization, for example, a member buying a shirt, this includes them in a group membership. In consideration of group membership, it can be defined as groups that are identified by a common symbol system such as sports team color, national flag, etc. Memberships that own shirts provided by the organization, makes them a part of the group.
Sense of Community Since the definition of Sense of Community can be view as an individual being able to depend on others, membership, and feeling a sense of belonging, the YMCA allows those to feel as if they are a part of the community by being a member. SOC among the members of the YMCA can be influenced by diversity since it can help create a community bond (Dalton, Elias, &
Wandersman, 2011). However, SOC is not perfect because of the problems that can occur within the communities. Examples of a problem that can occur with SOC are individuals that only care about themselves. Members that only care about themselves won’t pay attention to another member of the YMCA. This causes