Make A Splash Swim Lesson Project

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2019

Resolution 09-0320R3 established the Hennepin Youth Sports Program, and Minnesota Law 2006 Chapter 257 authorized the county to make grants for youth activities, and sports. In 2016, the county board authorized $35,000 annually to be dedicated to providing swimming lessons to the under-served youth of our communities. Under-served youth is defined using several socio-economic parameters, drowning and near-drowning incidences over a 5-year period, and other indicators. These funds are being administered as grants through the National USA Swimming Foundation (USASF), Make a Splash program, for potential local swim lesson providers. The USA Swimming Foundation has more than 900 qualified Make a Splash local partners. Since its inception, partners have enrolled more than 4.9 million children in qualified swim instruction.The Public Health Promotion and Environmental Health units of Hennepin County Public Health (HCPH) are acting as conveners: building and improving community coalitions, leading health improvement strategies, and focusing on community centered outcomes. They communicated with the local providers In 2018, Hennepin County had eight (8) Make a Splash Local partners, with more than 20 swim lesson locations, submit grant requests totaling $48,278. Through the support of the Hennepin County Project Initiative, $36,428 was awarded to five (5) Make a Splash Local partner swim lesson providers. In total, 38,462 children were provided with the life-saving gift of swim lessons and 924 children have been provided free or reduced-cost swim lessons as a direct result of the USA Swimming Foundation/Hennepin County funding. In total, over the last two years through the partnership with the USA Swimming Foundation, Hennepin County has provided $70,000 to Local partners providing 1,736 free or reduced-cost swim lessons to children since 2017 (See Local partner Statistics chart).about the goals of the grant, and created a GIS mapping tool that included demographics, drowning and near-drowning accident information, and the physical locations of the local grant award winners. This data gives the local providers a geographic area to target and recruit for swim lesson programs.