Philadelphia has a lifeguard shortage. This program paid teens to fill the gap.

Michelle Mendez Lara was in a Google classroom when an advertisement for paid lifeguard certification training caught her eye. The senior at Thomas A. Edison High School would get paid $12 an hour to become a certified lifeguard, and secure a summer lifeguarding job at a community pool in the city once completed. She quickly followed the link and applied.

Lara was one of 13 teens who ultimately participated in the program, which was made possible through a collaboration between Fab Youth Philly, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, West Philadelphia Promise Neighborhood and Drexel University’s Athletic Center.

“I’ve known, especially since 2020, it’s been particularly difficult to be able to open pools — COVID, violence in our neighborhoods, and lifeguard shortages,” said Rebecca Fabiano, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Fab Youth Philly. “And I always thought, if we could pay teens to get their lifeguard certification, I bet we could get all the pools open.”

» READ MORE: Philadelphia created the city pool as we know it. What went wrong?

So Fabiano started reaching out to different community partners. She asked Drexel if the university would donate pool time for the teens to get their training done. She reached out to Parks and Recreation to see if they could provide a water safety instructor. She connected with one of her funders, the West Philadelphia Promise Neighborhood, to provide swim gear for the teens, and secured free physicals from a local health hub.

All in all, 248 Philly teenagers applied for the program — but many didn’t know how to swim. Fabiano narrowed the list down to 30 teens to take the swim test. Ultimately, 13 teenagers completed the 12-week, 25-hour training along with 20 hours of workforce development programming, graduating Saturday. Once pools reopen for the summer, the lifeguards will be getting paid $16 an hour.

“There’s a lifeguard shortage nationwide, and Philadelphia is no different. And in Philly, we have more public pools than any other city in the country, so it’s increasingly difficult when you have to try and recruit close to 400 lifeguards every year,” said Bill Salvatore, deputy commissioner of programs at Parks and Rec.

In 2022, just 50 of 72 city pools opened, and many of them for only a portion of the summer. The department has yet to announce how many community pools will be open this summer — but at least one will be reopening to the public this year.

“Because of what [Fabiano] did for us, we’re able to open a pool that we didn’t open the last few summers down in West Philly,” Salvatore said. “It’s remarkable.”

» READ MORE: Philadelphia pool closures leave neighborhoods without a vital community resource: ‘Why our pool?’

The impact of the program is multifaceted. When community pools are able to open, it provides a space for neighbors and kids to have fun and build community with one another, which also deters violence. But the program has an additional impact on the teens themselves.

Lara, for example, comes from a low-income family and is labeled as unhoused in her school district. She already loved swimming, but getting paid to complete her certification made the time she spent training more worth it.

“Having a job on Saturdays helped me a lot,” Lara said. “And having a community pool that is free and accessible for the community … brings people together. I think it’s a good idea to enjoy the things that high-income people can enjoy, but just because we’re low-income, we might not have access to.”

This program is something Fabiano plans to continue annually, with the added goal of eventually paying young people to learn how to swim.

But for now, the program has served as a powerful example of what can be accomplished through collaboration.

“We know that together, we can chip away at some of these shared goals to keep teens safe to keep them engaged, to reduce violence in the neighborhood and get those pools open for it,” Fabiano said.