Swimming is a life skill and a public health issue, yet learning to swim requires access to a pool and can be prohibitively expensive for many families. Access to swimming pools has further been limited through segregation, the privatization of public pools and creation of fee-based pools and the shift from public swimming pools to private backyard pools. The result is a huge racial gap in swimming abilities. SOMA Justice’s Swim Equity Program is working to bridge this gap.

• African American children ages 5-19 are nearly six times more likely to drown in a swimming pool than their Caucasian peers.
• 45% of Hispanic/Latino children and 64% of African American children have little to no swimming ability.
• If a parent does not know how to swim, there is only a 19% chance that a child in their household will learn to swim.

(Source: USA Swimming)

SOMA Justice Swim Equity Program

Since 2023, SOMA Justice has partnered with swim instructor and swim equity advocate Ellis Peters to offer over 50 free and reduced cost 1:1 beginner swim lessons to students aged 5-55. Our program has focused on individuals who may generally have a hard time accessing lessons: adults who cannot swim, children with special needs, and community members in financial need. To date, this program has been made possible thanks to a generous donation in memory of Maria Eugenia Irma Fagalde Ide Petros, a local mother and grandmother who loved to swim.

As we look to summer 2025 and beyond, SOMA Justice is hoping to raise $10,000 to grow the Swim Equity program to reach more adults, children and students with special needs, and to operate year-round.