It has 2,700 separate organizations with 10,000 branches working with 21 million men, women and children, to "strengthen communities through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility."

[2] YMCAs in America is one of the largest charitable nonprofits in the United States, in terms of donations received from the general public, as listed by Forbes magazine.

[5] Baltimore, Maryland, had its first YMCA in 1852, a few blocks west of Charles Street with later an extensive Victorian-style triangular structure of brick with limestone trim with two towers at the northwest and southwest ends and two smaller cupolas in the center, built by 1872–73 on the northwest corner of West Saratoga and North Charles Streets, the former site of the city's first Roman Catholic church (St. Peter's, 1770) and pro-cathedral (1791–1826), but razed in 1841.

The first central Baltimore YMCA, which still stands in 2014 (but with its towers removed in the early 1900s, converted to offices in the 1910s apartments and condos in 2001, and a luxury brand boutique hotel in 2015) at the northern edge of the downtown business district near Cathedral Hill and the more toney residential Mount Vernon-Belvedere-Mount Royal neighborhood with many of the city's cultural and educational institutions relocating.

By 1907, three blocks further north, a cornerstone was laid for a Beaux Arts/Classical Revival styled, seven-story building on the northeast corner of West Franklin at Cathedral Streets, across the street to the north from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the old Baltimore Cathedral) of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, (1806–21).

Today, the Sioux YMCAs, under the leadership of a Lakota board of directors, operate programs serving families and youth on the 4,500 square miles (12,000 km2) Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.

[10] In July 1915, American secretaries with the War Prisoners' Aid of YMCA began visiting POW camps in England and Germany.

YMCA secretaries worked to create camp committees to run programs providing educational opportunities, physical instruction, and equipment, theatrical productions and musicals.

YMCA was associated with homosexual subculture through the middle part of the 20th century, with the athletic facilities providing cover for closeted individuals.

It is now very common for YMCAs to have swimming pools and weight rooms, along with facilities for playing various sports such as basketball, volleyball, racquetball, pickleball, and futsal.

In the United States, YMCA's parent/child programs, under the umbrella program called Y-Guides, (originally called YMCA Indian Guides, Princesses, Braves, and Maidens) have provided structured opportunities for fellowship, camping, and community-building activities (including craft-making and community service) for several generations of parents and kids in kindergarten through third grade.

[15] In some programs, children earn patches for achieving various goals, such as completing a designated nature hike or participating in Y-sponsored events.

YMCA after-school programs are geared towards providing students with a variety of recreational, cultural, leadership, academic, and social skills for development.

American students in Title One public schools are sometimes eligible to join a tutoring program through YMCA called Y Learning.

Y Learning operates under the main mission of bridging achievements gaps and providing essential resources to help underprivileged students thrive in school.

The rooms became a significant part of American culture, known as an inexpensive and safe place for a visitor to stay in an unfamiliar city (as referenced in the 1978 Village People song "Y.M.C.A.").

[16] YMCA of Greater Seattle turned its former residence into transitional housing for former foster care and currently homeless youth, aged 18 to 25.

[22] Even after the initial lockdowns and stay-at-home orders expired, YMCAs across the United States continued to provide critical services to community members.

In Southern California, where many special needs youth and adults were left disconnected from one another, the YMCA of Orange County began providing virtual meetings for their New Horizons and Inclusion groups.