Your Stanly County YMCA believes we all need a place to belong—a place where we genuinely care about one another, share in decisions, treat each other with respect and pull together for a common cause. Ys bring together people from different walks of life in an environment where all can feel comfortable. They are natural incubators for ideas to help solve community problems. They get things done by working with other neighborhood groups and organizations.

The Y's community development efforts include alternative schools, gang intervention, family literacy programs, tutoring, substance abuse prevention, job training and employment services, permanent and transitional housing, and much more. They also include such simple steps as linking a child with a baseball coach who cares more about values than winning and understands that kids need to have fun.