Sawsan and Amal's Story

Joining YWCA in fall 2018 has opened new doors for my daughter, Amal, a lovely third grader diagnosed with generalized anxiety and sensory integration dysfunction a few years back.The journey into regaining strength, confidence, coping skills, and battling worries and fears has been full of twists and turns for both of us; but we gratefully cherish the compassionate support of many kind hearts and prayers.YWCA is one such big heart and haven, which would not have been accessible to Amal, and my obligations as a single parent, without the generous support of the financial scholarship.When asked about her opinions of swimming at YWCA in the past six months, Amal recalled how Peter acts silly sometimes to help kids not feel nervous about swimming, how cheerful and helpful all her teachers are and clearly articulate instructions to encourage her do the best, and how brave and confident she is learning to be in the pool.Observing Amal’s responses, from excessive fear of water touching her face at four years old to learning to dive in cold deep water is miraculous. She has grown emotionally, cognitively, and socially to challenge her anxious feelings and rather excel as a resilient goal-oriented strong girl. Such skills, moreover, help her excel in her school work with honors every semester.Finally, I’m very thankful for the open safe space available at YWCA for myself and Amal, as observant Muslims; a beautiful inclusive space for diversity racially, religiously, economically, and socio-culturally.Our scholarship fund ensures that our aquatics program is welcoming to everyone. Because everyone should learn to swim. For life! If you're interested in our swim lessons but lack resources, please reach out! Contact us at 847-864-8445 or flyingfish@ywca-ens.org to learn more. If you are able to, consider contributing to the Oz Fund, our aquatics scholarship fund, so that another child in our lakefront community may learn to swim.