Jamilah's Story

When Jamilah, a seventh grader from Garfield Park, started with Live Grit SOARS she didn’t know how to swim. Although she was an avid basketball player and track athlete, kids in her area didn’t have access to sports like triathlon.

Jamilah came to Live Grit SOARS at Breakthrough Urban Ministries, all that changed. Now, not only can she swim, swimming is one of her favorite sports. Her mom, Shavon, said, “She loves swimming so it could give her a lot of insight on if she wants to become a professional swimmer,”

It’s because of support and donations from our community that we are able to teach kids, like Jamilah, how to swim. We teach them the skills needed for triathlon, but we teach them so much more than that. Learning to swim took patience, practice, and grit. Jamilah has grit and you can help us instill grit in others with your support.