YMCA, McKinsey Health Institute call for investing in community: 3 ways to improve collective and individual wellbeing

A report launched at UNGA 81 shows the links between personal and community wellbeing, illustrating how to strengthen them with global stories of best practice.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, September 24, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Communities around the world, and young people in particular, are facing significant pressures that undermine wellbeing – from rising living costs and workforce insecurity to geopolitical instability, the AI revolution, climate disruption, and strained health and social support systems. Individual and community wellbeing shape one another: a person’s physical, mental, social, and spiritual wellbeing are fundamentally affected by whether communities can meet basic needs, offer safety and belonging, and give people a real say.

Released alongside the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 81), Built to Thrive: The case for investing in Community Wellbeing, a new report from the World YMCA in partnership with the McKinsey Health Institute (MHI), highlights the significance of the wellbeing of a community, and identifies tactical ways to strengthen it. In New York, leaders from YMCA and MHI have presented the report in events organised by the United Nations Youth Office and the Child Mind Institute.

World YMCA Secretary General Carlos Sanvee explains: “Our ambition is to strengthen the conditions that allow every person and every community to thrive in body, mind, and spirit. [….] [But,] the systems we rely on to keep communities well - schools, health systems, housing markets, emergency services - were designed for populations, climates, and economies quite different from those we face today. These are not problems we can solve by adding another programme. Our case is for redesigning these systems with communities, so that wellbeing is something that is built to sustain. That means changing how the world works, and realising that Community Wellbeing depends on everyone – community organisations, governments, policymakers, and businesses – choosing to play their part.”

Erica Hutchins Coe, McKinsey Health Institute Global Executive Director, shares: “People's ability to thrive is shaped not just by their individual health, but by the strength of the communities around them. By combining MHI's holistic health research with the YMCA's deep community experience, we can better understand and act on the conditions that strengthen wellbeing - building stronger communities and ultimately, more resilient economies and societies.”

The challenge

• 4 in 10 adults report experiencing “a lot of worry or stress” (Gallup, 2024).
• 6 in 10 young adults report little or no sense of meaning or purpose (Harvard Making Caring Common, 2023).
• 8 in 10 young people feel those in power don't care what they have to say (UNICEF U.S.A., 2024).

A community is called to provide three things: basic needs and access (food, shelter, income, health care, learning); safety and belonging; and genuine participation and agency. A gap in any one of those community conditions ripples into the others.

The response

The report identifies three opportunities to strengthen these challenging conditions:
1. Basic needs and access: get help to people early in places they already trust – the gym, youth centre, hostel, and classroom – well before they are forced to join an official waiting list to receive the support they need.
2. Safety and belonging: build spaces where people are known, not merely counted.
3. Participation and agency: give young people authority on the decisions that matter and shape their communities.

The report – which incorporates the views of young people from across the YMCA Movement – presents case studies worldwide showing how the YMCA’s everyday spaces (its gyms, camps, clubs, classrooms and more) already hold wellbeing in body, mind, and spirit, across generations. It also presents case studies from other national, regional and international organisations with similar efforts to foster collective benefit.

UN Assistant Secretary-General for Youth, Felipe Paullier, says: “There's no sustainable development without community wellbeing, and without future generations feeling empowered, connected, and resilient. That is why there is an incredible need for the case for investing in Community Wellbeing, and I welcome this visionary, comprehensive, strategic and practical report. And I salute the YMCA which is already doing this work in its everyday places where inter-generational groups gather, earning trust locally year after year, and keeping young people at the heart of change.”

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For further information or media requests:
- World YMCA, John Phillips, john@ymca.int, +44 7775 530281
- McKinsey Health Institute, Liela Touré, liela_toure@mckinsey.com, +1 (438) 227-4808

About World YMCA
The worldwide YMCA Movement empowers young people and communities to be and to lead the change they want to see. Founded in London in 1844, the YMCA reaches over 65 million people a year across 120 countries, with nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers, and 12,000 branches. The World Alliance of YMCAs (World YMCA) unites, strengthens, and represents YMCAs worldwide, enabling them to deliver collective impact at scale, with and for young people and communities. More on World YMCA

About McKinsey Health Institute
The McKinsey Health Institute is a non-profit institute of McKinsey & Company, committed to adding years to life and life to years. Its mission is to catalyse the actions and investment needed to realise this possibility, working with a robust ecosystem of organisations to convene and activate leaders, advance research, create and promote open-access data and tools, and stimulate investment and innovation across historically underinvested areas of health. More on McKinsey Health Institute

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World YMCA
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The worldwide YMCA isn't just a place for community wellbeing - it IS community wellbeing.