Staying at the YMCA in old-time Phoenix


When I moved to Phoenix, at age 19, no one suggested that I stay at the YMCA. In fact, it would have been a ridiculous idea - in my lifetime the YMCA was a place with a swimming pool, and workout rooms. But a generation earlier I probably would have immediately sought out the local YMCA, which was on 2nd Avenue and Monroe from 1912 until the 1950s. I'll see if I can explain using the lyrics from the 1978 song "YMCA", by the Village People. Sing along with me, and dance if you'd like:

Young man, there's no need to feel down
I said, young man, pick yourself off the ground.
I said, young man, 'cause you're in a new town
There's no need to be unhappy.

 Young man, there's a place you can go
I said, young man, when you're short on your dough
You can stay there, and I'm sure you will find
Many ways to have a good time.

Taking away the "smile and a wink" sarcasm of the lyrics, that's exactly what the YMCA was in old-time Phoenix, and anywhere in the country. It was specifically a place for young men who were new in town, all alone, and needed a safe place to go.


And yes, it was for young men only, and for Christian men only. Nowadays you don't associate "Bible thumping" with the YMCA, but it really was the Young Mens' Christian Association. And a young man didn't need a lot of money, and he didn't need to know anyone, or anything. He would simply state that he was a Christian, and wanted to not get caught up in any of the terrible things that can sweep up a young man in the big city. There was no need for a young man to sleep on the streets, or be taken advantage of by slumlords. There was a place that he could go, a place to sleep, a place to get cleaned up, a place to get a decent meal. It was the YMCA.

You can get yourself clean, you can have a good meal
You can do what ever you feel.

Young man, are you listening to me?
I said, young man, what do you want to be?

 I said, young man, you can make real your dreams.
But you got to know this one thing
No man does it all by himself.

 The world that I came of age in had none of this for me, I had to find my own way, and I did find people who helped me. But as I got older I found that men who reached out to help young men were seen as suspicious, even perverts. So many things washed away with that attitude, including the popularity of Valley Big Brothers, which still exists thankfully, as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona. All of my adult life I stayed well away from doing anything that might cause a raised eyebrow, or a smirk. And then when I became a teacher I became comfortable being the man that I always wanted to grow up to be, who would reach out and help. No man does it all by himself.
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