Grants for Adaptive Aquatics

The National Center on Physical Activity and Disability Exercise describes adaptive aquatics as "the use of water and specifically designed activity by qualified personnel to aid in the restoration, extension, maintenance and quality of function for persons with acute, transient, or chronic disabilities, syndromes or diseases." Grant money is available from several sources to help organizations pay for the specialized equipment and highly trained therapists required to provide a state-of-the-art program. An adaptive aquatics therapist considers each individual's abilities when creating a personalized swimming and water therapy program, focusing on skills such as entering and exiting the pool and developing swimming skills.

  1. Reeve Foundation

    • The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation has established a Quality of Life grant program. With maximum funding of $25,000, the grant program is designed to award cash to nonprofit organizations that focus on improving the lives of disabled persons. Many of these grants are awarded to adaptive aquatics programs. The Reeve Foundation has first-hand knowledge of the benefits of aquatics therapy and seeks to provide help to those living with paralysis from spinal cord injuries, birth defects or disease. The foundation grants special consideration to organizations that work with wounded military personnel.

      A Quality of Life grant was awarded to Livonia, Michigan for the purchase of a new chair lift to be used by anyone in a wheelchair who wishes to access the pool. Another grant was awarded to the British Columbia Lions Society for Children with Disabilities to provide a pool ramp that enables children to transfer from wheelchair to pool chair.

    Hull Foundation

    • The Dale B. Hull Foundation for Neurological Rehabilitation has awarded a $15,000 grant to Neuroworx, an organization in South Jordan, Utah that is affiliated with the foundation. Neuroworx provides physical rehabilitation for spinal cord injuries. Grant money supports state-of-the-art adaptive aquatics equipment and physical therapists who are highly experienced in rehabilitation for neurological injuries.

    Heart of Variety

    • The Heart Of Variety fund in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has awarded a grant of $5,100 to support the Adapted Aquatics Program in that city. The program supports children living with paralysis by providing swimming lessons and adaptive aquatic therapy on a year-round basis.

    Saint Clair County

    • The Community Foundation of Saint Clair County, Michigan, along with a matching grant from the Kellogg Foundation, has awarded a $180,000 grant to the Access to Recreation fund in that state. The Blue Water YMCA adaptive aquatics program received a grant, as did the organization's Fun for All program. The Access to Recreation program promotes "universal design," a philosophy that therapy should be uniformly designed to exceed minimum standards established by the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines .