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History of YAM

YAM 10th Anniversary Celebration

YAM is an office of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.  Our goal is to bring young adults closer to Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church and one another through social, spiritual and service events.  We fall under the Department of Religious Education. Our Director is Dorothy Polchinski, and Ana Nagel is the Program Coordinator.  Our office was founded in 1996 by Janice Murphy (now Janice Givens).

The first YAM office was a converted closet in the Catholic Center located at 680 West Peachtree Street in Midtown.  Janice saw the need to minister to young adults converting to Catholicism and those rediscovering their own Catholic roots.  Many were also looking for Catholic fellowship as they moved to the booming city of Atlanta. Janice’s infectious love for making things happen, for our Catholic faith, and for young adults made YAM grow quickly.  Before you could say ‘young adult ministry’ ten times, she had programs such as ‘Thank God It’s First Friday!’ Mass & Socials, Theology On Tap, and Holy Grounds up and running.  

Since then many programs have been added including REVIVE, Retreats, and monthly service projects. Some of our events draw upwards of 300-1,000 people while others draw only a handful.

We now have real offices on the 6th floor of the Georgia Centre Building on 600 W. Peachtree Street. YAM doesn’t have dues or monthly meetings. We have an email list that anyone can sign-up for on this page. Currently over 4,000 people are subscribed. 

Ten years later we are blessed to have a highly active young adult community whose presence is recognized not just locally, but also nationally, and even world-wide!