About us
Water & YOUTH SAFETY PENSACOLA
WAYS is a non-profit organization in Pensacola, Florida, established in the fall of 2016. Our mission is to educate children in our area to make them safer in and around water.
Pensacola has water everywhere. Our residents not only enjoy the Gulf but we also have multiple bayous, rivers, lakes, ponds, and streams. There are almost 11,000 homes with pools and/or hot tubs and close to 24,000 residences are located on our many waterways.
While all this water makes Pensacola a wonderful place in which to live it also presents an ever-present danger to our residents, especially our children. Drowning is the 2nd leading cause of unintentional death among children under the age of 14.
In 2008, the Pensacola Association of Realtors Community Relations Committee recognized there was no organized effort to address this issue and started a free swim program for area 2nd graders. This early effort consisted of a classroom session on water safety and a voucher for free swim lessons.
In 2012, committee leaders changed the program to its current format. In order to make this change PAR reached out to the Greater Pensacola Aquatic Club, the Escambia County School District and the City of Pensacola Parks and Recreation Department. These founding organizations helped to create WAYS Pensacola.