A Message from the interim Chief Executive Officer.

As many of you may know, Jim Janzen has resigned as president and CEO of YMCAs across Southwestern Ontario, but will continue his work on behalf of the National YMCA movement, as Senior Vice President with the YMCA of Greater Toronto. The YMCA Board of Directors recently announced my appointment as interim CEO for the YMCAs across Southwestern Ontario. I am grateful for the many well wishes and pledges of support during this exciting and transformative time for our association.

Welcome to the YMCA and thanks for visiting our website.

Your YMCA takes many different shapes and serves a variety of locations across our region.  Whether you live near Goderich on Lake Huron, in Sarnia on the St.Clair River which forms the border with Michigan, or near Chatham close to Lake Erie our YMCAs work collectively to meet your needs in health & wellness, licensed childcare, or career retraining and personal development every day.

YMCAs in our region serve people from across a spectrum of ages, and stages of their lives.  We serve life long residents of our community and newcomers to Canada who call our communities home.  We do all this with an eye to inclusion – supporting everyone who may require access to our programs and services, regardless of their ability to pay the full fee.

YMCAs don’t do this in isolation.  Our YMCAs partner and collaborate with over 100 community agencies and institutions and all levels of government in order to serve our mission of building healthy communities.  We do this in support of our vision of being the leading agency in support of health and wellness and the growth and development of persons in spirit, mind and body in our communities.

Our services are organized out of our Association office in Sarnia – but are anchored in each and every community we serve.  Over 36,000 people are part of our delivery network at our YMCAs across Southwestern Ontario.  Your YMCA is part of your community.  The YMCA’s staff and volunteers make that commitment to you.  Whether you participate as a member, a childcare parent, a newcomer to Canada, or a participant – your YMCA remains open and available for you, on terms that exist to support your goals and the goals of the community you call home.  After all, being part of a community includes being there for that community and ensuring that we have the capability, and resources to respond to the specific needs of that community year in and year out.

On behalf of all the staff, volunteers, and community leaders who engage with their YMCA every day, please enjoy the links on our websites to our programs and services in each YMCA community within our family. The rewards and the pleasure of helping to create healthier communities is a passion we love to share.

Kathi Lomas-McGee
Interim CEO
YMCAs across Southwestern Ontario
Chatham-Kent, Sarnia-Lambton, Goderich-Huron, Lambton Shores, North Middlesex, Central Huron