The Kitchener-Waterloo Young Men's Christian Association was founded in 1895 in Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario by a group of citizens "eager to promote the spiritual welfare of young men and boys of the city." The first officers were all prominent community members: President E.P. Clement, Vice-President Louis J. Breithaupt, Recording Secretary T.M. Turnbull, and Treasurer E.D. Lang. First known as the Berlin Young Men's Christian Association, the Association was active until 1906 when financial difficulties and limited facilities made it necessary to cease local operations. It was reconstituted in 1919 when a fund-raising campaign resulted in the building of the structure at the corner of Queen and Weber Streets in Kitchener. This building remained its headquarters until the Association moved to its present locations on Carwood Ave. in Kitchener.