61% of kids can't swim.
Our goal is to fix that!
Beyond teaching kids to swim, we have now trained over 50 youth water safety volunteers in partnership with local North Florida schools, the YMCA and the Boy Scouts (I'm an Eagle Scout) - while our weekly water safety lessons in after school programs and camps have now reached over 300 kids. This is only the beginning!
The model is expanding beyond Florida. We are now collaborating with youth advocates at the Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences in California (Carmen and Liv) to teach water safety in after-school programs. We are actively lobbying California Assemblymembers to fund swim vouchers for under-resourced kids, including Assemblywoman Laurie Davies, who authored California's swim voucher bill (AB 1005) - drawing on our success in Florida. AB 1005 recently passed without an appropriation. Our Drowning Prevention Law has a $1,000,000 annual appropriation from the Florida legislature.
Too many kids in Florida do not know how to swim. 79% of kids in under-resourced families are non-swimmers. (U.S. Swimming Foundation)
An increasing number of drownings involve autistic kids. (the Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County) In fact, 1/3 of the 119 Florida kids that drowned last year were autistic. (Autism Society of Florida)
Thousands of children are vulnerable to death by drowning in the many pools, lakes, retaining ponds, and waterways of Florida, not to mention the Atlantic Ocean with our 8,436 miles of shoreline.
Florida drowning rates are the highest in the US. Let's put an end to this. Let's make water fun and safe for all kids!
Thank you to the State of Florida for following our lead and implementing access to swim instruction for elementary school kids! Now kids up to 7 year old are eligible for Florida swim vouchers - beginning on July 1.
This legislative action could notably reduce the over 100 drowning deaths per year among Florida's kids. You can learn more about the Safe Swimmers Project here. Contact us here. Any size donation is appreciated!
We launched our elementary school voucher celebration with our sign up event in September with a generous grant from Youth Service America/Americorps - with a statewide, 67 county rollout now in the works!
See our work in action!
