The Hebrew Young Men's Literary Association was first set up in 1854 in a building at the corner of Fayette and Gay Streets in Baltimore, Maryland[4] to provide support for Jewish immigrants.

[1] The first Young Men's Hebrew Association (YMHA) was founded in New York City on October 10, 1874, with Lewis May as its first president.

[7] YWHA was founded to provide spiritual and material support for the young Jewish women who were moving to cities at the time.

Cleveland-area children and adults with emotional, physical and developmental disabilities now have many opportunities to get involved in fitness, wellness and recreational activities.

As a rule, today JCCs are open to other ethnic groups as well, with a possible exception of strictly traditional Jewish activities.

There are almost two dozen Jewish community centers in the New York metro area, providing a wide range of social, cultural, and educational services, ranging from lectures, concerts, theater performances, and dance recitals to health and fitness classes, job training workshops, and citizenship classes.

JCCs all over the country sponsor film festivals and book fairs, bringing world-renowned writers and directors to smaller communities.

The Holocaust Memorial Center, which attracts many visitors to its programs and exhibits, used to be a part of the JCC of West Bloomfield, but recently opened a building of its own.

The West Bloomfield JCC houses two gymnasiums which can be made into three gyms using a movable wall, a workout area, an indoor full size and kiddie pool, an outdoor full size pool, a kosher restaurant, a Michigan Jewish war veterans museum, an in line hockey center, a library, ceramics/art rooms, a large multi-purpose room (Handleman Hall), an art museum, an area dedicated to teaching and learning about tzedakah (charity) called Shalom Street, a performing arts theater in the basement, a preschool, offices for summer camps, the previously mentioned preschool, and other administrative offices and organizations.