Partnering with the Marin Community

We were hoping to publicize our recent awesome partnership with Marin Community Clinics. We had a fantastic three-week intense swim lesson session with children from the MCC and here’s our little back story:

The Marin Y and Marin Community Clinics (MCC) have partnered up to create Healthy Living opportunities for patients served by MCC. With a note from their doctor, kids from MCC are prescribed 3 weeks of swim lessons at the Marin Y at no cost to their families. With the generous help of Marin Community Foundation, the Marin Y provided each child with a new swim suite and goggles as well as transportation from MCC in San Rafael. The kids range in age from 11mo-17 years old and learned the basics like splashing, floating and blowing bubbles to more advanced techniques like submerging, jumping into the water, and swimming laps.  Additionally, the parents who were not comfortable around water were given the opportunity to get in the pool to learn Safety Around and In Water.

“The best part about this experience has been watching the kids go from hesitant and scared to get in the water to excited and animated to get in and learn something new.” Says Jessie Schiesel, Senior Director of Healthy Living. “The parents reactions have also been very rewarding.”

Overall, everyone’s confidence grew stronger, their bodies grew healthier and memories were engraved for a lifetime! In the fall we will be expanding the opportunities for these families to include Youth Sports, stay tuned for more smiles!

Isabella, Age 12