Impact100 Semi-Finalist!

For the second year in a row, Central Adult Learn-to-Swim has been invited to submit a full grant application to this organization that awards grants of $100,000. Out of 147 organizations to apply in 2025, Central ALTS is one of 36 semi-finalists.

The number of people who’ve learned to swim through Central ALTS is now more than 1,000 - but for each of them, there are two more who are still waiting. In 2024, the waitlist had grown to 2,500 people and co-founders William Kolb and Amy Benton needed a way to get more people into classes.

Co-founder Amy Benton (far left) and past Central ALTS board chair Rosetta Holland (third from left) talk to Impact100 members at the Meet the Finalists event in 2024.

They decided that creating Lead Instructors would allow the work of organizing classes (contacting students, booking pool time and lifeguards, gathering equipment, and recruiting instructors) to be spread out over more people. As a result, more classes and more students can be taught at one time.

William and Amy devised a budget and a three-year plan for quadrupling the number of graduates per year and applied to Impact100 for funding. While they did not win the $100,000, they were runners-up and received close to $10,000 from the organization. In addition, the publicity from this experience motivated so many people to donate that Central ALTS went ahead with its expedited schedule and taught 450 people to swim in 2024 - four times more than any other year. They continue to operate at this level, teaching down the waitlist even as more people ask about joining it!

The need to continue this model is great, so Central ALTS re-applied for an Impact100 grant and recently learned that they are a 2025 Semi-Finalist. The next milestone is the announcement of the Finalists in September!