Annual Reporting

Dear Community,

I addressed this letter intentionally. Community is what the Y means to so many of the people we serve, and it holds true across every definition of the word. The Y is where people come together around what they share. Whether they are swimming laps, playing pickleball, running the floor at noon basketball, competing in youth sports, being mentored during after school care or spending time during summer at camp, the Y is their community. Those activities are usually what first brings someone through our doors. Sometimes it is a sport or a routine they already love. Other times it is the recognition that the Y is a safe, welcoming place to try something new. Either way, the reason people first come to the Y is rarely the reason they stay for years, often for decades. They stay because they find fellowship. The Y is a place to make a friend, to be a friend and to bring a friend. Our hope is that every member does all three.

The importance of these connections cannot be overstated. Most of us understand how to care for our bodies. We eat well, we exercise and we keep our blood pressure, cholesterol and cardiovascular health within healthy ranges. What fewer people realize is how powerfully our social connections shape our lifespan and our resistance
to chronic disease.

In one analysis that followed more than 308,000 people for an average of seven and a half years, those with strong social relationships were 50% more likely to survive the study period, an effect the researchers found comparable to quitting smoking. A U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory reached a complementary conclusion from the other direction, reporting that social isolation carries a mortality risk similar to smoking 15 cigarettes a day, raises the risk of heart disease by 29 percent, raises the risk of stroke by 32 percent and substantially increases the risk of dementia in older adults.

We too often treat social connection as a concern only for our older neighbors. It matters just as much at the start of life. Our programming centers on children 13 and younger, and that focus is intentional. These are the years when a child learns to make a friend, to join a team, and to feel they belong. The friendships and confidence built in our gyms, our pools and at our camps lay a foundation that carries forward. As those children grow into their high school years, the Y remains a familiar and welcoming place, somewhere they return on their own to play ball, lift and swim. That continuity matters. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that young people with a strong sense of connection, at school and at home, report lower rates of poor mental health and the risks tied to suicide, both as teens and into adulthood.

Community is why the Y exists. It is not defined by the walls of our buildings, and it is not something we build alone. We partner with organizations across Dane County so that our members and our wider community alike have what they need to become the best versions of themselves.

2025 Annual Report