The Young Women's Christian Association of Kitchener-Waterloo was organized in 1905 as the "Berlin YWCA" and operated out of rented premises on Queen St. South in Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario with Mary Ratz Kaufman as President. the YWCA's main purpose at that time was to provide for both the spiritual and physical welfare of the increasing number of young women who were coming to the urban and industrialized areas seeking employment and education. The local Y offered both a residence and a programme of helpful classes in embroidery, cooking, and "physical culture". In 1911 fund-raising began, a site was purchased and on May 15, 1915 a new building was opened at 84 Frederick St., Berlin [now Kitchener], Ontario. Although the motion was made in 1917 to change the name of the YWCA from Berlin to Kitchener, as the City had been renamed, the name was not officially changed until 1960.
In 1937 a new wing donated by Mary R. Kaufman, containing a gymnasium, was opened. A branch of the YWCA was desired for Waterloo and in 1960 a property in Waterloo was purchased at 186 King. St. S., later sold in 1972 to the Red Cross.
Over the years the YWCA offered many programs for children and adults alike: camping started 1926 at Camp Tinawatawa, clubs flourished, physical, health and craft classes were offered and programs were devised for newcomers to the country and area. Today, the YWCA provides "programs in the areas of childcare, youth recreation, emergency and supportive housing for women, and prison-based counseling." (http://www.ywcakw.on.ca/about.php ) The building at 84 Frederick St. is now an emergency shelter called Mary's Place, named after Mary Ratz Kaufman and operated by the YWCA.

Camilla Young was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey (United States of America) in 1946, and grew up in Woodbridge, New Jersey. Young was a professional writer, a fashion commentator, a consultant, and a model. She coordinated New Jersey's Miss Black America Pageant and judged other pageants.

Vershawn "Vay" Young is an artist, actor, diversity consultant and Professor, Joint Appointed, in Communications Arts and English Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo where he has been the director of Waterloo's Black Studies program since its launch in 2022. His research in Black Studies focuses on masculinity, language and performance, and he is known for scholarship about "code-meshing" which was explored in his 2007 book Your Average Nigga Performing Race, Literacy, and Masculinity.

Young holds a JD law degree from Mitchell Hamline College of Law and a PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to his appointment at Waterloo, he was a faculty member at the University of Iowa and the University of Kentucky.

Since joining Waterloo, Young has been a founding member of Waterloo's Black Faculty Collective and, along with Kathy Hogarth and Christopher Taylor, was a member of the Black Studies implementation team whose work and phage 1 report led to the founding of a Black Studies program in 2022. Outside of academia, he has worked as a high school drama, English and speech teacher, an elementary school principle and a school board administrator. During Winter 2023 Young stared as Sir Robert Chiltern in a production of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband at the Firehall Theatre in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Stephan Zagar (1902, Illinois - 1976, Michigan) and Wilma Marie Verk (1901, Yugoslavia-1975, Illinois) married in the 1920s in Illinois. Stephan was a machinist and Wilma Marie worked at home. On April 1, 1929, their twin daughters, Rosalyn and Marilyn Ann, were born. On October 22, 1936, their third daughter, Margaret Ann, was born.
Marilyn attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and married Clyde Amundson in 1951, with whom she had two children. She died on May 26, 1995.
Rosalyn married Frank Ross.
Margaret Ann got infected with Poliomyelitis at a young age (possibly when she was 2 years old) and later developed cerebral palsy. She attended Gompers School for the Handicapped and later graduated from the University of Illinois. In 1987, Margaret Ann started volunteering as a coordinator for Meals on Wheels in Lansing, Illinois, fielding calls from clients and scheduling cooks and kitchen helpers. Margaret Ann died on November 9, 2014.

Carl Zehr was born in Baden, Ontario and is a graduate of Rockway Mennonite Collegiate in Kitchener. He has served as a member of the board of numerous Kitchener area organizations: the Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro Board, the University of Waterloo, Centre in the Square, and Kitchener Housing Inc. Zehr was the Ontario Liberal Party candidate in Kitchener-Wilmot in the 1990 provincial election, but came in second to New Democrat Mike Cooper. He was elected mayor of Kitchener in 1997 serving until 2014. . He previously served as a city councillor from 1985 to 1994. He is the namesake of Carl Zehr Square, a public square at Kitchener City Hall.