Welcoming Week Celebrates Inclusion and Diversity

At the YMCA, we believe our communities are stronger when everyone feels welcome and we work together for the common good.

Created by YMCA of the USA’s national partner Welcoming America, Welcoming Week, which takes place each year in September, celebrates the growing movement of communities that fully embrace new Americans and their contributions to the social fabric of our country. 

Even though Welcoming Week at the Y is once a year, we strive to be inclusive and celebrate diversity always.

At the Kaimuki Y, one of the main ways our inclusivity is practiced is through the harmonious existence of multiple generations at our branch. We are unique, as we have been a neighbor in this community for over 70 years. Many of our members (and several of our staff) have been with us since days of their youth. They've participated in Youth and Learn to Swim programs, participated in Judo, and much more. Now, we see them bringing not just their kids, but grandkids as well. Kupuna and keiki alike carry the Kaimuki Y in their hearts as their home-away-from-home, as their Y-Ohana. It goes without saying that we have a very strong senior population at the Y; strong in numbers, but in community as well.

We always strive to do better and the work of inclusion and diversity that Y's all over the world are doing inspires us. Watch the video below to see how the YMCA celebrates Welcoming Week!