Swim Lesson Scholarships at Every Swan Pool: Our Partnership with Hope Floats
Every summer we watch the same thing happen at our pools. A child who was scared to put their face in the water in June is jumping off the side in July. The parent who spent the first lesson at the edge of the deck is reading a book by the third week. Swim lessons change families, and they save lives. Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages one to four in the United States, and formal lessons are one of the few things proven to lower that risk.
The hard part is that the families who need lessons most are often the ones who can't fit them into the budget. We've had parents ask about payment plans, ask whether one child could share a spot with a sibling, or quietly not come back after the first session. That's the gap we wanted to close.
Why Hope Floats
This fall Swan Aquatics became a Business Partner of the Hope Floats Foundation, a non-profit whose whole purpose is connecting children living in poverty with quality swim lessons. They've built a network of swim lesson providers across the country and a simple, respectful way for families to apply for help. We looked at a few ways to offer scholarships on our own and kept coming back to the same conclusion: Hope Floats already does this well, and families are better served by a program with a real application process and a national track record than by a sign-up sheet at our front desk.
How it works for families
The scholarship is for swim lessons at any Swan Aquatics location that offers them. Here is the whole process:
- Apply with Hope Floats. Families apply directly through the Hope Floats Foundation, not through Swan. That keeps the decision independent and keeps your financial information private from our front desk. The application is on their site under "Apply for Assistance," and you can reach their scholarship team at learn2swim@hopefloats.foundation.
- Pay 10%. Scholarship families pay ten percent of the lesson fee. The rest is covered by the scholarship fund. We believe a small contribution keeps families invested in showing up, and it keeps the fund stretching further.
- Swim. Once approved, you register at your pool like any other family. Nobody on deck knows or needs to know who is on scholarship.
Where the money comes from
Hope Floats runs on donations, and each partner is responsible for helping fill the scholarship fund that supports families in its own community. That's where you come in.
Every Swan Aquatics location that offers swim lessons will host a fundraiser each season for the Hope Floats scholarship fund. Some will be swim-a-thons, some will be a family night at the pool, and some will be as simple as a donation jar at the front desk during a holiday swim. Every dollar raised at your pool goes toward lessons for a child in your community. If you'd rather give directly, Hope Floats accepts donations year-round on their website.
What this means for our city and HOA partners
If we manage your facility, Hope Floats scholarships are now part of what we bring to your residents at no cost to the city or the association. It's one more way the pool serves everyone in the community, not only the families who can already afford it. If you'd like us to include scholarship information in your seasonal program guide or on your facility's website, let us know and we'll handle it.
One request
If you know a family that would benefit, send them the link. If you're a business owner in one of our communities, consider becoming a Hope Floats partner yourself. And when your pool's fundraiser comes around, bring the kids. The best thing about a swim-a-thon is that the people raising the money are the same ones who learned to swim here.
Questions about scholarships at your pool? Email us at info@swanaquatics.com or ask at the front desk.