21 Oct YMCA of Greater Kansas City Receives $5,000 Grant from RA Long Foundation

YMCA of Greater Kansas City was recently awarded a $5,000 grant from the RA Long Foundation to strengthen the Y’s ability to provide water safety programming and swim lessons for 108 New Americans in North Kansas City.

Refugee Swimming and Water Safety Training will provide water safety education and swim lessons to refugee community members.

Water Safety Education:  The NKC Y will partner with JVS to provide water safety training (on land).  These basic classes will cover Safety Around Water, a drowning prevention curriculum, and will utilize translators.  After providing this introduction to water safety, families will be able to sign up for swim lessons. We anticipate providing this training to 50 individuals, both parents and youth.

Swim Lessons:  Refugee youth ages 8-20 will receive a series of 6 swimming lessons at NKC Y. All swim lessons follow the YMCA swim lesson curriculum, incorporate Safety Around Water (SAW) drowning curriculum, follow the Make a Splash Local Partner program requirements of a 1:6 child:instructor ratio, and offer at least 4 hours of instruction. All Y swim instructors and lifeguards are certified. A total of 108 students will be served by this program across three cohorts.  Thirty-six participants will come directly from our partnership with JVS.  Additional youth participating in the program will come from similar target populations in the NKC Y community.

Once someone starts to drown, the outcome is often fatal. Unlike other injuries, survival in drowning situations is determined almost exclusively at the scene of the incident and depends on two highly variable factors: how quickly the person is removed from the water, and how swiftly proper resuscitation is performed.  Prevention, therefore, is vital. Many children who come to Kansas City as refugees are from cultures where swimming isn’t practiced.  This could be for religious guidelines that necessitate that bodies remain covered, because open water is too dangerous, or because water is scarce.  Water safety training is not generally provided in refugee communities.  Water safety programs are critical to teaching children how to be safe and have fun in the water.

The YMCA of Greater Kansas City was launched in 1860 as the seventh YMCA in North America. It was organized to provide a safe refuge for young men coming to the urban environment to work and helped prevent them from falling victim to the negative influences commonly found in such areas. The Y’s mission has evolved over the years, but what remains constant is the organization’s commitment to strengthening community. The Y engages men, women, and children, regardless of age, income, or background, to nurture the potential of children and teens, improve the nation’s health and well-being, and provide opportunities to give back and support neighbors.