Community Participation

BAAM ( building african american minds ) Winter PRogram

Each winter our rowers volunteer as part of a partnership with the YMCA to teach a 6 week "Introduction to Swimming" with the after school participants of the BAAM program. It is our shared belief that in a community surrounded by water, all children should be made "water-ready" and feel confident as they learn to swim. Below is the letter we received after our most recent session 

"Wow! What an amazing time the boys had due to the wonderful partnership of Freedom Rowers and the YMCA!  We not only saw boys leap from one ability level to the  next, but boys who vowed they'd never get in the water experienced the time of their lives in the pool! Thank you so much to all of you for your patience and consideration, but most of all, your love of what you do allowed our boys to truly enjoy their time in this program.

Sincerely,
Deborah H. Short
BAAM Program Director