letter
March 3, 2025
Dear Members of the 119th Congress,
On behalf of the nation’s 2,600 YMCAs, I want to congratulate the newest members of Congress and thank you all for your service to our country.
This week, nearly 400 YMCA staff, volunteers, and youth advocates are coming to meet with you in Washington, D.C., during the Y’s annual National Advocacy Days. We look forward to sharing how YMCAs help kids, families, and individuals learn, grow, and thrive in 10,000 communities each day, as well as the policy priorities we hope to advance in partnership with the new Congress. Our priorities are rooted in our core nonprofit mission: to build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all.
As one of our country’s leading youth-serving organizations and largest child care providers, the Y knows that effectively supporting kids means supporting their families too. Our programs not only nurture the healthy development of kids, but also enable parents to work and provide financially for their families, which helps foster a robust workforce and healthy economy.
Affordable child care is critical community infrastructure, and that’s why we encourage Congress to prioritize increased funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant and Head Start, both of which help families access quality, affordable early-childhood and afterschool programs. When that happens, we can improve development outcomes for children, lessen the daily stressors of working families, and support a strong workforce and economy across our country.
We also urge Congress to consider tax policies that provide relief and support to families, including adopting provisions from the Child Care Availability and Affordability Act, making the New Markets Tax Credit program permanent, and supporting the Charitable Act. These tax policy reforms would deliver valuable resources to help YMCAs meet a wide range of needs in our communities.
Physical wellness is essential to thriving communities. And yet, drowning is the leading cause of death among children ages 4 and younger, while 6 in 10 Americans have a chronic disease like diabetes, hypertension, cancer, or arthritis. At the Y, our swim lessons teach kids to be safe in and around the water, and our evidence-based, chronic-disease-prevention programs help people improve their health or avoid disease altogether. To continue and expand the reach of these life-saving programs and services, we call on Congress to support funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Y’s proven ability to deliver such effective health programs makes us a vital partner to the federal government in reducing drowning rates among children and addressing the chronic disease epidemic.
Finally, we ask for your support of the Building Civic Bridges Act. This bipartisan legislation would create an Office of Civic Bridgebuilding, establish a competitive grant program for initiatives in this area of work, train Americans in skills that help them connect with each other, and support research on civic bridgebuilding—all of which aim to help Americans with different perspectives and experiences respectfully connect and cooperate with one another. YMCAs bring together people of all backgrounds every day, and we believe this legislation represents a meaningful opportunity to bridge divides in our communities.
For 175 years, the Y has been a trusted partner in American communities, working to address pressing needs and connect people to their purpose, potential, and each other. We are committed to building on this legacy, person by person and community by community, for generations to come. The enclosed snapshot highlights the impact we make across the U.S. today.
Thank you again for your service and leadership. The country’s YMCAs look forward to partnering with you all to build better futures for communities nationwide.
Sincerely,
Suzanne McCormick
President and CEO
YMCA of the USA
