Making Waves

by Chris Spence, Director of Youth Engagement at Family Matters

A recent survey by USA Swimming reveals that nearly 40 percent of White children have little-to-no swimming abilities; however that staggering percentage is minuscule when compared to the 70 percent of Black children who cannot swim. Sixty percent of Hispanic children face the same concern.”

The reason for this has nothing to do with physical differences and everything to do with lack of access. Swimming should be a skill offered to everyone. However, it’s a privilege afforded to those who live near a pool or accessible natural body of water, and who can afford to pay for lessons. This excludes inner city children who lack one or both of those opportunities.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports drowning as the second leading cause of injury-related death among children under the age of 15. Other studies show that Black children from ages five to 19 drown in swimming pools nearly five times more often than White children. The painful stereotype of African-Americans’ poor swimming skills is one reminder of the trouble a child can face.

Family Connections youth swimming during Spring Break

The world was also reminded in 2010, when six African-American teenagers from Louisiana drowned in Shreveport’s Red River. The teens (from two different families) were found dead after trying to save a friend from rough waters.

Sadly, parents and friends watched in horror as the teens drowned in up to 20 feet of water because they, too, couldn’t swim.

“None of us could swim,” Marilyn Robinson, a friend of the families, told the Shreveport Times, adding that she watched helplessly as the victims went under. “They were yelling, ‘Help me, help me. Somebody please help me.’ There was nothing I could do but watch them drown, one by one.”

A trip to the lake during Family Matters' summer programming

Today, nearly 60 years after the abolishment of Jim Crow laws that kept African Americans from pools and safe swimming places, many children still never get the chance to swim.

When racial integration finally became a mandate, many areas responded by closing public pools so they didn’t have to mix, creating a bigger social divide that transcended race because if you didn’t have the money to go to a country club or private pool, you either didn’t learn to swim, or you tried to learn from an untrained friend or family member in rivers, lakes and even ponds.

That’s the history, and it has undoubtedly contributed to where we are today, to this troubling acceptance that swimming — an important life skill — isn’t for everybody.

The historic separation of African Americans from pools is a problem that affects the elite world of competitive swimming. Despite Simone Manuel’s Olympic gold-medal success last summer, only three of 45 swimmers on the 2016 U.S. Olympic team were black. And out of 107 historically black colleges and universities, not one has a functioning 50-meter pool. Howard University is the only historically black college or university with a competitive swim team. With few role models and scarce opportunities to swim, too many black children see swimming as an inaccessible and uninviting sport.

Making Waves at Family Matters

In addition to safety concerns, an inability to swim bars children from being qualified for a variety of summer employment and career opportunities, ranging from lifeguards to camp counsellors.

This fall, Family Matters Boys 2 Men program, in partnership with the Evanston YMCA, plans to change that with their Making Waves Program.

The eight-week program will kick off in September, and will teach ten young men basic water safety tips and how to swim, which is a priority, especially in the wake of a recent tragic drowning of a neighborhood youth.

Family Matters is incredibly grateful to the YMCA for this opportunity, and plans to continue to expand the program to include additional youth members.

Making Healthy Nachos

 

Every couple of weeks, the students at Family Matters participate in after school classes. One class that was offered was “Food to Go”.


According to Temple Hickman, one of the students from the Teen Girls Program, the purpose of “Food to Go” is to take basic foods that the students eat daily and make them healthy.

When asked why he chose to take this class, David Gray explained that after cooking one time with his father, he fell in love with cooking. 

 


The students from “Food to Go” decided to make nachos. As a group, they created a shopping list of healthy ingredients for the nachos. For example, instead of using concentrated cheese, the students used mozzarella cheese. For chips, instead of buying chips from the store, the students cut tortillas into small pieces and baked them. The students needed minimal assistance from the Family Matters staff; they cut the vegetables, cooked the meat, and cleaned the dishes by themselves. 
 


After the food was cooked, the students were able to enjoy their nachos, without having to worry about them being unhealthy.

Cooking Matters! Healthy Cooking Club Gathers

 

 
 
 
As part of our FEEL Fit Initiative, Rogers Park residents Barbara Moore and Jayne Hoffman, are facilitating a Healthy Cooking Club this Spring.  4 Family Connections families and 1 Teen Girls family meets monthly at Barb’s home to prepare healthy meals together in the context of community and relationship building.  Local businesses and residents are supporting this unique venture by providing ingredients for the recipes as well as kitchen supplies and staples for families to take home for their personal kitchens. 
 
On March 17, the Cooking Club had their first official gathering.  They focused on healthy, make-ahead breakfast items, including homemade granola bars, apple puff pancakes, and carrot muffins.  They measured, chopped, grated, folded, and whisked ingredients together, sharing lots of smiles, laughter, and joy as they baked. They have already met again in April, and are planning to meet again in May.  
 

 

 

 

 
 
The second session was “casserole week”.  Participants made a whole grain pasta bake, quinoa and broccoli casserole, a brown rice and beans vegetarian taco bake, and a breakfast egg casserole.
 
Thank you, Barb, for spearheading Family Matters’ first off-site Cooking Club!
 

Let’s Move!

On February 28, 2013 Michelle Obama celebrated the launch of the “Let’s Move” Active Schools Initiative, a national effort designed to inspire children to eat well and be active, at McCormick Place in downtown Chicago. Several 5th, 6th, and 7th graders at Family Matters had the opportunity of a lifetime to attend this event with their school. Gisselle, a 7th grader at Disney Magnet School, and a Teen Girls and Community Tutoring participant, was one of these students. She shares with us her experience:

I met Michelle Obama at McCormick place in Chicago. I went with some of my school. She talked about exercising and about when she was a kid and how she was raised. She also said we can do anything we want in our life; it’s up to us. Gabby Douglas, an Olympic medalist, was also there. Michelle Obama showed us some exercises and Gabby Douglas and everyone in the McCormick place tried them. Jordan Sparks, a singer, was there and she sang “No Air” and another song at the end.

The travel, wait time and travel back to my school were super long, and it was fun to see the athletes and Michelle Obama and Jordan Sparks.

For more information on the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” Initiative and Celebratory launch in Chicago, go to:

http://www.letsmove.gov/blog/2013/02/28/new-program-will-help-bring-physical-activity-back-schools

Community Tutoring Cooking Fun


Family Matters is a flurry of activity during CPS Spring Break.   As part of our FEEL (Food and Exercise to Eat and Live) Fit Initiative, Community Tutoring students and tutors had the opportunity to participate in a healthy cooking workshop in lieu of regular tutoring during Spring Break this year.

Facilitated by Howard Area Community Center Nutritionist Kathryn S., we learned about ingredient substitutions we can use to make desserts healthier, and prepared and ate a delicious Banana and Berry Crumble.  It was a lively, educational, and fun evening, and we would like to share some pictures and the recipe with you.  Enjoy! 
Playing a matching game to learn about ingredient substitutions…

Getting our baking instructions from Kathryn

Carefully measuring whole wheat flour…

…and plain non-fat yogurt

Yum! Giving Banana Berry Crumble a big thumbs-up!!

Banana and Berry Crumble (Serves 10)
Ingredients*: 
4 large bananas
2 cups fresh mixed berries
non-stick cooking spray 
5 Tbsp whole-wheat flour, divided 
1 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4  c. light brown sugar, packed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
4 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter
2/3 c. plain nonfat yogurt
1 Tbsp. honey 
*We doubled the recipe to fit a 9 x 13 pan /serve 20.
Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 400 F. 
2. Peel and slice bananas in half lengthwise.
3.Rinse berries and pat dry.
4. Spray baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Place banana halves flat side down in baking dish. 
5. Toss berries with 1 Tbsp whole-wheat flour.
6. In medium bowl, add 4 Tbsp flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to blend. 
7. Cut cold butter into little pieces. Add to bowl.  Using your fingers, quickly blend the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly. 
8. Spread the crumbly mixture over the fruit in an even layer.  Press down slightly. 
9. Bake about 10-15 minutes, or until the crumble is firm and golden in color. 
10. While crumble bakes, stir together yogurt and honey in a small bowl to create a lighter version of whipped cream. 
11. When crumble is done, spoon 1 Tbsp of yogurt and honey topping over each serving. 



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