►
From YouTube: Announcing the Boston Swim Safely Partnership
Description
Announcing the Boston Swim Safely Partnership
A
Morning
today
I
am
speaking
to
you
from
the
roxbury
ymca
and
I'm
joined
by
james
morton,
ceo
of
the
greater
boston
ymca
catherine
saunders
executive
director
of
this
ymca,
maria
fernandez,
dominique
of
blue
cross
blue
shield
of
massachusetts,
leslie
wallstrom
of
boston,
triathlon,
maya
smith,
joy
williams
and
melanie.
What
is
your
name
melanie
welsh,
who
are
co-founders
of
the
boston
harbor
women
of
color
coalition,
and
my
chief
of
civic
engagement,
aisha
miller
this
year
there
have
been
far
too
many
drownings.
Any
drowning
is
too
many.
A
A
Death
by
drowning
is
the
third
leading
cause
of
accidental
deaths
globally.
According
to
the
center
for
disease
control,
black
children
ages,
10
to
14
are
7.6
times
more
likely
to
drown
than
white
children
of
the
same
age.
Overall,
black
children
drown
at
5.5
times
the
rate
of
other
children
in
2016.
A
Drowning
was
the
second
leading
cause
of
unintentional
death
among
black
boys
and
girls
under
18.
and
further
a
2017
report
commissioned
by
the
usa
swimming
found
that
in
families
with
household
annual
incomes
below
fifty
thousand
dollars
a
year,
seventy
nine
percent
of
children
have
little
or
no
swimming
skills.
A
The
late
mimi
jones
of
boston,
for
example,
found
herself
at
the
center
of
flagrant
poolside
racism
in
1964
at
the
age
of
17
jones
participated
in
a
swimming
civil
rights
demonstration
at
a
motel
in
saint
augustine
florida,
the
manager
of
the
motel
poured
acid
into
the
pool
as
she
and
other
activists
swam
children
activists.
I
might
add
scenes
such
as
this
were
were
such
as
this
one
were
viewed
from
all
over
the
world,
contributing
to
multi-generational
distrust
of
shared
water
spaces.
A
A
I
would
like
to
close
with
a
quote
from
the
author
heather
mcgee
in
her
book.
The
some
of
us-
and
I
quote
in
the
1950s
and
the
1960s
white
officials
and
communities
across
the
country,
opted
to
drain
public
swimming
pools
rather
than
integrate
them
generations
later
america,
america
still
hasn't
recognized
that
racism
has
a
cost
for
everyone,
but
our
future
can
look
different
end
quote
today:
kicking
off
boston,
swim,
safely,
partnership.
A
A
C
Thank
you.
Thank
you
very
much,
mayor
janie,
I
I
am
so
excited
and
elated
to
have
this
opportunity
to
share
this
incredible
opportunity
with
all
of
you,
and
so
you,
let's
think
about
this,
is
this:
is
a
partnership,
a
public-private
partnership
between
the
city
and
a
multitude
of
different
organizations
to
provide
our
community
with
access
to
swim,
lessons
to
create
the
next
generation
of
lifeguards
that
can
protect
those
children
and
keep
those
children
safe,
and
what
what
an
amazing
opportunity?
C
C
And
then
I
see
beccy
perez,
who
is
our
director
of
our
menino
ymca
and
that's
in
hyde
park
and
she'll.
Take
on
that
responsibility,
becca,
thank
you
and
then
in
dorchester
it's
anthony
a
tride
who
will
do
this
great
work
and
while
we're
talking
about
folks
who
are
going
to
be
directly
involved
in
this
effort,
I
want
to
recognize
daley
hamilton
daily.
Please
raise
your
hand
right.
C
A
D
You
know
just
on
this
topic,
I
wonder
if
you
could
ask
you,
know
the
school
lessons
probably
start
in
november,
and
a
lot
of
people
think
oh,
I
can't
take
swimming
lessons
in
november
because
you
swim
in
the
summertime.
What
would
you
tell
folks
who
say
well
I'll
wait?
I
only
have
it
done
now.
You
don't!
You
can't
learn
this
women's
winter
time.
A
Well,
I
would
say
that
people
swim
all
year
round.
It's
why
we
have
indoor
pools,
but
I
will
turn
it
over
to
james
sure,
and
I
think
the
important
opportunity
here
is
to
make
sure
we
are
doing
all
that
we
can
to
prepare
new
swimmers
to
train
new
lifeguards
prior
to
the
height
of
swim
season,
which
would
be
summer
for
us
here
in
new
england.
But
swimming
is
an
all-year
activity.
C
C
A
Would
also
add
that
swimming
is
a
life
skill.
This
is
something
that
we
need
to
normalize
and
make
sure
that
every
individual
across
our
city,
across
our
commonwealth
and
in
our
country
can
learn
to
do
that.
Everyone
can
swim.
It
is
important,
just
like
you
have
to
know
how
to
cook.
For
yourself,
people
learn
how
to
drive.
This
is
a
life
skill,
other
questions.
A
Just
to
clarify
your
question,
812
were
placed
on
unpaid
administrative
leave.
They
were
not
suspended.
The
goal
of
the
vaccine
verification
process
obviously
is
to
get
as
many
employees
vaccinated
as
possible.
That
continues
to
be
the
goal.
We
are
working
with
our
workforce
to
do
just
that.
We
want
all
of
our
employees
to
be
in
compliance
either
with
proof
of
vaccination
or
with
regular
testing,
and
so
we
will
continue
to
work
with
our
workforce
to
get
everyone
in
compliance
to
the
extent
that
we
will
not
have
everyone
comply.
A
C
D
A
E
A
There
were
five
departments
that
we
led
with.
These
were
the
five
departments
that
were
working
on
the
front
lines
at
higher
risk
because
they
are
very
public-facing,
and
so
it
was
our
public
schools.
It
was
a
public
libraries.
It
was
bcyf
as
well
as
the
disabilities,
commission
and
age
strong
boston.
A
F
A
A
So
we
are
not
in
that
phase
at
this
moment
right
now,
we
are
we're
talking
about
the
first
phase,
but
they
will
be
in
the
next
phase.
The
goal
again
is
to
get
everyone
in
compliance,
and
we
will
continue
to
work
with
our
union
leaders
with
our
department
heads
to
make
sure
that
we
are
meeting
that
goal.
B
F
It's
okay.
I
just
wanted
to
ask
an
unrelated
question
about
math
and
cast
there
have
been
some.
There
have
been
some
other
community
leaders
from
cambridge
and
somerville,
and
revere
who've,
obviously
either
pushed
back
or
said
that
they
feel
like
they're
not
being
involved
enough.
They
don't
have
a
seat
at
the
table
in
these
discussions
about
the
regional
plan.
How
do
you
plan
to
involve
them,
and-
and
can
you
give
more
details
about
what
the
regional
plan
will
look
like.
A
Thank
you
so
much
for
the
the
question
you
know
as
mayor
of
boston,
I
have
had
the
opportunity
to
convene
a
number
of
stakeholders
on
this
issue
locally.
The
the
multitude
of
departments
here
in
boston
that
are
working
on
this
issue
from
our
police
from
our
public
health
folks,
as
well
as
our
public
works
beyond
our
city
departments,
working
with
a
number
of
stakeholders,
including
our
d.a,
our
sheriff
and
folks
at
the
state.
A
We
are
looking
to
work
with
others
across
the
region.
We
do
need
a
regional
approach
to
this
here
locally.
We
continue
to
engage
in
outreach
to
make
sure
that
we
are
providing
supports
in
terms
of
referring
people
into
treatment
into
housing,
working
around
tents
which
are
posing
a
public
health
crisis
and
a
public
safety
crisis
with
these
tents.
A
But
we
in
all
of
this
have
to
make
sure
that
we
are
doing
so
in
a
very
humane
way
and
that
we
keep
in
mind
that
the
individuals
who
we
are
discussing
right
now
are,
in
fact
people
who
have
rights,
and
we
have
to
make
sure
that
they
are
are
protected
in
all
that
we
do
that.
Many
of
them
are
very
ill
and
we
want
to
make
sure
that
we
move
forward
in
a
way
that
recognizes
that,
and
so
this
is
an
all
hands
on
deck
approach.
A
F
The
recent
meeting
that
was
convened
by
baker,
it
included
a
lot
of
stakeholders
from
the
state
city
level,
but
some
of
the
leaders
in
cambridge
and
somerville
said
they
found
out
about
it
from
headlines.
So
do
you
plan
to
I
mean.
Obviously
this
is
this:
is
you
know
a
crisis
that
exists
within
boston
that
they
feel
that
you
know
whatever
happens
in
boston
will
affect
these
surrounding
neighborhoods
and
communities?
Do
you
have
distinct
plans
to
include
them
in
future
discussions
like
the
ones
that
you've
been
having
yeah.
A
We
know
that
more
than
60
percent
come
from
surrounding
towns
and
we
believe
that
that
number
is
much
much
higher,
and
so
it
is
important
to
make
sure
that
we
are
bringing
other
folks
to
the
table.
I
have
been
working
with
the
metro,
mayor's
coalition
and
other
mayors
through
that
avenue
to
discuss
this
issue,
and
we
need
to
make
sure
that
people
are
part
of
the
conversation
and
part
of
the
solution.
A
We
know
you
know
up
until
this
point.
A
lot
of
people
are
pointing
out
what
the
problems
are.
Not
many
people
are
raising
their
hands
to
say,
hey.
How
can
we
help,
and
so
we
certainly
welcome
other
municipalities
to
be
part
of
these
conversations
to
be
part
of
the
solutions
to
make
sure
that
we
do
have
a
regional
approach
and
that,
first
and
foremost,
that
the
individuals
who
need
support
who
need
services,
especially
around
treatment
and
housing,
are
getting
what
they
need.
Thank
you.
So
much.