INTERN CORNER: SAFETY AROUND WATER

This week I spent my days visiting the pools at the T. Boone Pickens and Lakewest YMCA Branches! I wanted to look into the different Safety Around Water programs that the Y offers the community.

One of my first visits of the week was to T. Boone Pickens’s Urban Swim sessions with Family Gateway, which is a nonprofit that serves families with children experiencing homelessness. It was amazing to me how many kids were comfortable in the water, especially because during their first day at the pool I got to witness most of the children being hesitant to get in the water to begin with! In just two weeks the children were hugging the lifeguards and eager to show off their new skills. The care and attention that all the staff shows towards the children is also very valuable to these children. The senior program director, Ms. Sunshine Statler, was constantly reinforcing and interacting with the kids and making sure all the children had appropriate garments. A set of twins from Family Gateway were kind enough to talk to me and let me know that they were having a great time. When I let them know that I never got the chance to learn how to swim, they told me “It was so much fun, you should really try it here! They’re all really nice!”

The Y is providing such valuable lessons for these children that not only reinforces their swimming skills but also their confidence. At Lakewest, one of the kids that originally was attached to the lifeguard’s neck, even while wearing baby floats on, was now comfortable enough to float around on his own! Eager to show off his new skill, he kept asking me take pictures of his success.  Programs like Urban Swim allow children who can’t afford swim lessons to learn the “water safety skills” needed when having fun near water. I never got the chance to learn how to swim because my family didn’t have the resources that the Y now provides for these children, and to get the chance to watch them gain confidence and learn how to “wall crawl” their way around the edge of the pool is amazing. The progress these children make is outstanding, and it wouldn’t be possible without the attention placed on Safety Around Water by the Y.

Rubi Nava 
Impact Evaluation Intern