Do you ever see a YWCA today? And, if so, are women and men welcomed equally at both? - Jinx
Google says yes, they’re still around today. It also says that men do have involvement in the administration, etc.
If I may hijack, do YMCAs actually offer all the services the song mentions (ie: a hot meal , a place to sleep, etc.) or are they basically just a place that has swimming pools, weight rooms, treadmills, basketball courts, etc.?
There are YMCA community centers. There are YMCA family centers. There are YMCA conference centers. There are YMCA hotels. Not only are these various types of facilities different from each other, but even ones of the same type will have differences from one city to another - or one part of a city to another. So some will have what’s in the song, and some won’t.
The song is probably about a hotel in New York City.
Are there still YMHAs? I have not heard of a Young Man’s Hebrew Association in a while.
Here’s what I can tell you about the two YWCA I have personal experience of, the Australian and Indian ones.
The Australian YWCA seems to do a lot for their local community and has a great budget hotel in Melbourne, the Hotel Y, which has won lots of awards and is a very nice place to stay.
The YWCA in Mumbai, India has a nice budget guest house, which offers 2 meals, and a single room for about $8 a night, men are welcome. They also offer lots of other services for the local community.
Schenectady has both. Their main branches are each a full-service YMCA ad YWCA, with apartments (actually, I think the YMCA have shut down that part). The two are within a half block of each other.
Both allow memberships for both men and women. A woman can join as a regular YMCA member, or as a family member (whether married or not). I’m pretty sure it’s the same way with the YWCA.
The main difference are the facilities – I think the YMCA has more equipment and programs. The YWCA, OTOH, has residences and also facilities for abused women.
They’re now known as “Jewish Community Centers”.
Here in Glens Falls, NY the YMCA is referred to as “Family YMCA”. Everyone is welcome.
My mother was the bookkeeper for the “Y” for over 30 years. I can remember as a little girl going to work with her at the “Old Y” in downtown on Glen Street. Rooms were rented out and the older gentlemen would gather in the common area to play checkers during the day. The residents there were longtime renters and they became like a second family to me. They were good days, good memories.
The YWCA is still around. You can learn more about them at www.ywca.org. There is a very active YWCA in my town. In addition to a pool and a fitness center (open to men and women), they operate a pre-school and an after-school program that serve mostly low-income children, classes and mentors for teenage mothers, literacy and computer training courses geared toward both English and Spanish-speaking adults, and a host of other classes and programs–all in keeping with the YWCA’s mission of “Eliminating Racism, Empowering Women.” They’re a terrific organization.