SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

OLD COLONY YMCA IS CHANGING LIVES THROUGH COMMUNITY SERVICE

Since its founding in 1887, Old Colony YMCA (OCY) has provided care, education, support, and community for thousands of children and adults in Southeastern Massachusetts. Their Brockton hub is just a hop, skip, and jump from Boston, where the YMCA of the USA was established in 1851 by Thomas Valentine Sullivan.

A retired sea captain, Sullivan knew too well the challenges of being a merchant mariner, particularly the long stretches away from communities, loved ones, and friends. A missionary, he sought ways to support sailors and merchants whose hardworking lives kept them separated from familiar comforts and vulnerable to unhealthy ways of coping when on shore leave.

He was impressed by the work of George Williams, a 22-year-old department store worker who, with 11 others, founded the very first Young Men’s Christian Association in London, England. Faced with the dangers of living and working in the city’s tenement slums, Williams and his compatriots created a refuge from the mean streets. By welcoming any man who needed shelter and support whether they were locals, transients, or immigrants, the London YMCA crossed England’s inflexible class system to create a safe haven unburdened by Victorian-era social restrictions.

Inspired by Williams' dedication, Sullivan created a "home away from home" for seamen launching the first YMCA in the U.S. at the city's Old South Church. Over the years the organization blossomed to include people of all genders, faiths, and walks of life. The association became a champion of immigrants, creating the concept of teaching English as a second language (ESL), launching the country's first ESL program in Cincinnati, Ohio.