After daughter’s near-drowning, dad creates nonprofit to teach kids how to swim

A Middle Tennessee father is working to save lives after his own daughter nearly died in a swimming pool.

“It was a birthday party,” recalled Steve Reeves. “Little girls – no one is watching the pool and we turn around and I see my daughter lying on the bottom of the pool.”

His then 4-year-old daughter survived.

It was that traumatic experience that inspired Reeves and his wife to create Howard’s Hope, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to reducing juvenile drownings.

According to the Howard’s Hope, 70 percent of African-American children cannot swim, while 60 percent of Hispanic/Latino children and 40 percent of Caucasian children can’t swim.“Our mission is to fund organized swim lessons for children who are living in households that may be experiencing economic hardship,” explained Reeves.

With the help of a grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield Tennessee Health Foundation, in the first year of Howard’s Hope, it connected 30 children with free swim classes, while in its second year, the nonprofit helped nearly 150 students.

Courtesy of WKRN Nashville’s News 2