Water safety is an important issue this time of year, and a recent study claims only 54 percent of Americans know how to swim.
On the Great Lakes alone 30 people have died so far in 2017, and more than half of those deaths took place on Lake Michigan.
Different community centers and city parks are offering affordable or free swimming lesson. One of those community centers is focused on the African American community in particular.
“I’ve had swimming classes in school and I never learned completely how to swim,” said Desiree Washington.
Washington may not be able to swim, but she wanted to make sure her son could, so she signed him up for swim lessons at the Salvation Army’s Kroc Center.
“In this day and age, I really believe that a lot of things that we as adults don’t do, or the skills we don’t possess, I think it’s important that our children have those skills,” Washington said.
See ABC 7 Chicago
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