Discussion 1

Winning Grants Step by Step88

Sample Organization Background Component Swim 4 Life was established as a 501(c)3 organization in 2008 by 2000 Olympic swimming hopeful Jane Swimmer, who emerged as one of the brightest female swim stars in the United States at the 2000 Games. The mission of Swim 4 Life is to empower youth in underserved communities, through high- quality programs, to utilize the discipline of swimming to improve physical fi tness, nurture self-esteem, and acquire the confi dence to advance their lives.

Jane was an eleven-time U.S. National Champion and two-time USA Swimmer of the Year. In 2005, she started for-profi t swim schools at various community centers in two other counties in Any State. Inspired by the results achieved at her for-profi t schools, Ms. Swimmer began to explore the idea of bringing a high-quality program to youth in underserved communities that would off er the same standard of excellence found in the best private club programs, such as her own. However, she continued to focus on the for-profi t schools until January 2007, when she conducted a pilot water safety program at the West Hanover Swim School with fi fty middle and high school students who were bussed in from ABC Youth (ABCY), a nonprofi t organization that provides enrichment programs in the Gathentown School District. The results clearly demonstrated that the program could be replicated eff ectively in a nonprofi t setting.

Because the school lacked the capacity to accommodate growth of Swim 4 Life programs, and considering the cost of recruiting and transporting youth across the city to the selected site, it was determined that the optimal pools to use for program sites would be those located in the communities where the target population lived. The fi rst site chosen was Arthur Schomburg Middle School in South Spring, where a pool that had been out of service for fi fteen years was about to re-open. In 2008, a second site was added at the Rockmore Education Complex, a high school near downtown Abbington. The Adapted Learn-to-Swim program began at the high school in summer 2008 to meet the needs of students with disabilities.

As of 2006, the Gathentown Unifi ed School District must comply with a statewide mandate to include aquatics programs in all high school physical education curricula for 9th and 10th grade students. However, because of poor staff training and long-term cutbacks in funding for physical education, the district was ill-prepared to teach students to swim despite its large investment in building nine new high schools with competition-size pools.

Too often, youth in the communities our program targets lack the opportunities, guidance, and/ or family support equal to that of their surrounding counties to provide them the foundation to help guide them in the right direction. By providing these kids with valuable access to swimming via the Swim 4 Life program, we endeavor to empower these kids to learn the values of self-discipline, decision making, hard work, and dedication that have a real chance of forever changing their lives. The aim is to inspire children to explore their potential through swimming and give all children the same opportunity to enjoy the sport.

The organization uses swimming to reach out to children who are at risk of failure in school, gang affi liation, unhealthy lifestyles, including childhood obesity, and other physically, mentally, and emotionally unhealthy outcomes. More than 450 youth have participated in its short history, and 85 percent of those in the non-adapted classes have passed a water safety survival test. Programs are delivered by two full-time and seven part-time employees, with a seven-member board of directors providing oversight and governance.

O'Neal-McElrath, T., & Carlson, M. (2013). Winning grants step by step : The complete workbook for planning, developing and writing successful proposals. ProQuest Ebook Central <a onclick=window.open('http://ebookcentral.proquest.com','_blank') href='http://ebookcentral.proquest.com' target='_blank' style='cursor: pointer;'>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a> Created from ashford-ebooks on 2021-07-21 00:05:04.

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