YMCA VICTORIA
167 year-old YMCA Victoria is surviving the existential threat of the pandemic thanks to tech solutions and leadership
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T oday YMCA Victoria is a not for profit organisation employing over 5,500 people and providing a wide variety of services including camps , community recreation and sporting facilities , swimming lessons , as well as children ’ s programs such as before and after school care , and early learning centres from more than 150 locations across the state of Victoria , Australia ’ s most populous .
Naturally the YMAC today has evolved as society has evolved , and welcomes all genders , races and religions , though its core commitment to supporting and empowering young people is as strong as ever . Safe to say its founder Sir George Williams couldn ’ t have predicted this transformation though he ’ d surely approve . And he ’ d be sad to learn that problems like social isolation , youth depression and suicide he set out to address then have only grown , or that a new pandemic would threaten the very continuation of not-for-profit organisations like his .
DECEMBER 2020